Sent to Save Me
by Sleepy Sheep Guardian
Summary: Sequel to AWOM Now that Yugi an Yami are together, everything's fine right? Wrong. Yugi discovered Ryou's terrible secret, so he and his angels are trying to help him, but someone else has decided to cut in. DISCONTINUED.
1. Cutting in

SS-Well here it is...*holds up a couple pages* the prologue/1st ch. of the sequel to 'Angels Watching Over Me' (Prologue's is too short to be on it's own).

Tym-Ya, hopefully this will be enough for a while cuz she's got some _NiCe_ welcome back tests.

SS-*sigh* Exactly, but I'll still try and get the chapters out as quickly as I can. 

Tym-Ok, let's go. DISCLAIMER: Yup, we own YGO. Got a mansion in Florida, own 10 cars, and bought two Hawaiian islands. Oh, a pig just flew, and it's raining donuts an candy...yea right.

SS-Don't be a mean mon.

&**words to readers**&

~You guys called it and here it is, the sequel to 'Angels Watching Over me'. I have no idea how long it'll be, or who's stayin and who's goin, but I DO know that this will circle around Ryou +_______ (which probably all of you know already). 

Last Time 

~Since this is the prologue/1st ch, there was no last time. But in the epilogue of AWOM, Y+Y are getting along fine, but something weird is up with Ryou...wonder what's wrong? (hint hint...we're gonna find out) Ok, let's go!

SS-Oh, and there'll be some talking between charge and angel here, so remember these symbols...

/This/...Yugi talking

//is//...Yami talking

#really#...Harlon talking

^stupid^...Kelina talking

SS-Argh...TYM!!!

Tym-Hehehehehehe....*runs away*

~*~*~*~*~

                                          **Sent to Save Me**

                                                Prologue

****In Heaven****

          A lone angel sat on a cloud overlooking the world below. He sighed, he was bored, bored, and a lil frustrated (A/N: Sounds like my 1st prologue huh? Give me a break; it's almost the same situation.). 

          "Why can't I go down and do my job already?!"

          "Because." The angel turned around and saw Yami walking his way, so he got up and met him halfway.

          "Because why?"

          "Because you haven't asked Yanazi yet, you aren't an official watcher, and you don't know the first thing about being one." The other angel looked away from him before retaliating.

          "I know what to do. I go down, heal, become friends and before you know it, I become a permanent guardian like you."

          "It's not that easy, and remember, my case was an exception."

          "You bonded with your charge...how difficult is that?"

          "Very, if you take the wrong steps. I was lucky that Kelina helped me, and that Yugi was very cooperative. Not all charges will be like him, trust me, I know."

          "Hm, if I recall, you didn't have many assignments before that child." Yami glared at him.

          "You're one to talk Bakura." The angel turned around, matching his expression. 

          "Don't get me started Yami. I've been your good friend since you started here. In fact, I was right behind you when we got here. You know that I'm not very good at this guardian business, but I'm willing to do it so that you won't have to put up with that mouthy girl." Yami blinked and dropped his glare.

          "You didn't go down to meet that boy to keep me company. You didn't even know that I was going to become a permanent guardian until you came back. *Bakura crosses his arms* I know that you're only doing this so that you can get away from multiple assignments."

          "So what? If you can do this, so can I. And I can bond with the boy I met just like you did with your look a like. *he looked at him* Aren't you supposed to be down there with him now?" Yami walked over to the border and leaned on the railing.

          "I'm telling you Bakura, it's not as easy as it seems. Sure, you look like the boy, and you managed to get him an item, but can you get to know, help, and bond with him? Does he even have any wounds? There's no way Yanazi will send you down if he's not even hurt." Bakura walked over to him. "And Yugi is with Kelina right now, so I came up here to check on you."

          "Uh huh, I know that Yami. I can get to know him, I can heal him, and get attached. And yes, he does have wounds, some bruises and cuts on his arms." Yami raised an eyebrow at him.

          "Very clumsy?" 

          "Hmph, no. Abuse." Yami's expression changed from fun to serious.

          "Abuse? At school?" Bakura leaned against the railing.

          "No, at home." Yami grabbed his arm and pulled him over. "What?"

          "Bakura, this is serious!" His friend still didn't grasp the seriousness of the situation. "This isn't just a broken arm or chicken pox, abuse at home is a very grave matter." Bakura shook Yami's hand off.

          "I said I could handle this. I appreciate your concern, but I must say it shows weakness. I think that charge of yours has softened you up quite a bit, and trust me, that isn't a good thing." As he walked off, Yami shouted to him again.

          "Take this seriously Bakura! You don't know what you're getting yourself into!" He only waved his hand, and walked into the Elysium Circle.

Yami sighed and drew out his wings, then he jumped off and headed back to Yugi. 'I hope that boy Bakura is going to look after will be all right. Maybe I should check on him again later.' 

                                                Chapter 1

****Yugi's room, around 11:30am****

          "Sugar, why are you dressin' up? Where're you goin?" Yugi was pulling his red sweatshirt over his head, but when he was free, he answered.

          "I'm meeting up with some of my friends in a couple minutes. We're going to get something to eat. Oh, and you can turn around now." Kelina turned and jumped onto his bed.

          "There's plenty ta eat here hun. And Yam's comin' back in soon too."

          "I know, but I want to catch up with them. No offense, but I can talk to you guys...*Kelina shoots a 'What do you mean by that?' look at him*...I mean, angels. I can talk to you angels anytime, but I can't call up my friends in the middle of the night and ask them to come over. Well, I could, but they wouldn't be able to come over." 

          "Aw, it's alrite sugar, I unda'stand." She got off his bed and over to the Yugi. "Now, you go finish gettin' ready, *fixes his sweater and fingers his soft hair* I'll tell Yam where ya went, so I'll cya before supper." 

          "Thanks Kelina." She turns towards the puzzle.

          "Oh, it's no problem sugar, bye!" She waved, then vanished into the puzzle. He grabbed the puzzle, then Yugi closed the door and walked down and out of the house. It was when he was running down the street that his angel caught sight of him. He instantly vanished into the puzzle, and started talking to him.

          //Yugi?// Yugi stopped in his tracks, and started walking so that he could answer (It's hard to run and talk telepathically at the same time).

          /Yea, hi Yami./

          //Yugi, Ryou is one of your friends right?//

          /Uh huh. He was there with me yesterday/

          //He has white hair, kinda brown eyes, and an accent right?//

          /Yea. Why?/

          //Just make-//

          ^It's cuz he's got a friend who looks jus like that boy, and he might be your friend's new guardian.^

          /What? Really?/

          //It's not for sure, but yes, your friend might get a guardian.//

          #And it seems your friend is in some trouble.# (and so he speaks... finally)

          /Trouble? What's wrong with Ryou?/

          ^It seems the lil boy has quite a few cuts an owies.^

          /Owies?/

          #Uh huh, from the looks of things, he's been through some tough physical abuse.# Yugi stopped.

          /Abuse? Ryou? How? Who?! He never said anything!/

          ^Do you think he would tell you sugar? He just doesn't want to worry you.^

          #And we have no clue how, or who. We just know that he is being abused.#

          ^So you got to get over to Ryou's house and help him before-^

          #Before anything else happens to him.# At this point, Yugi was putting his hand over one of his ears.

          ^Yes, yes a'course, step on it sugar!^ Yami must have sensed that Yugi was becoming overwhelmed because he was sitting/leaning against a wall with both hands covering his ears. 

          //Harlon, Kel, SHUT UP!// The two other angels stared at Yami. 

          #What's wrong?#

          ^Ya sugar, what's up?^

          *sigh* //I know your intentions are good, but this is too much for Yugi. He's overwhelmed by your loud voices.

          #Oh, sorry Yugi.#

          ^Ya, I'm sorry sugar. I had no idea.^

          /It's...ok. I know you guys were just trying to think of some answers./

Yami came out of the puzzle and helped his charge up. He then decided to stay out and continued walking with him.

          "Are you all right Yugi?"

          "Uh huh. I just...I never felt that before. So many voices, it just took me by surprise. I'm fine now." He must have been because he was walking freely without Yami's help. 

          "Ok, it won't happen again." 

          #Are we going to Ryou's house?#

          "Yea, I'm supposed to get him and then meet up at Joey's house."

          ^Alrite. Where does he live, hun?^

          "At the end of this block...right there. *points to the white house with blue trim at the end of the block* Yami, you'd better get back in the puzzle, I'm fine."

          "Ok." As he returned to the puzzle a thought came to Yugi's mind.

          "Um, guys. We know that it's abuse, but who?"

          //Well, we know it's at home. At least, that's what Bakura said.//

          /Bakura? Whose he?/

          #He's the angel that might watch over him.#

          /Oh, ok. But if Ryou's an only child, then it must be one of his...parents./ Yugi felt sad thinking that a parent would do that to their own son.

          //Don't worry Yugi, when we find out everything, we'll help him.//

          ^Is it his daddy? After all, men are usually more violent and abusive than women.^

          #That's a stereotype.#

          ^I'm jus sayin'^

          /I don't think so, I've met his father before. He's very nice, and he usually gives us rides./

          //Ok, then by a process of elimination, that means that the one hurting Ryou would have to be...//

          /...His mother./

****In Ryou's room****

          "Mom please! Stop!" Ryou was lying on the floor, blood seeping through his left sleeve. He held up his right hand for protection, but it wasn't helping. 

*************Violence, and cussing that has been covered***************

          "I told you to be up earlier to clean the kitchen and do the other chores!! *slap slap* You should know that by now you good for nothing piece of $***!!" She kicked him in the stomach before turning and heading for kitchen. "And clean up this mess you made, I don't want blood on my floors." He stayed there for a few minutes, not moving. He had learned a long time ago that crying doesn't help, and that all he could do was pick himself up, clean the area, and bandage himself. This time he was lucky, only one flesh wound. So he was able to close the door and get himself to his bed. There he took off his shirt, yet another stained by his blood. The cut wasn't too big, and not deep, he could easily say that someone kicked him by accident. He took out the first-aid kit under his bed, and started wrapping his arm with the soft bandage. 

                  ************Ok, no more meaniness************   

          Ryou sniffled, he hated this, but it wasn't like he could tell anyone. Telling his dad, or friends could get his mom away from him, but not before she would tear him apart. Besides, his father wasn't home often, and his friends might get hurt if they knew...and it wasn't like the cuts were deadly. They usually healed, but left scars, and she only broke his ribs once. It was hard explaining that one, he claimed to have taken a big fall, but it wasn't too believable, and that was when his father started spending more time with him. Ryou suspected he knew something, but there was no proof, and he didn't say anything, fearing his mother's wrath.

          *sniff* 'I wish this could end. *sniff* that someone could...could help me.' 

****On the sidewalk****

          The conversation had continued, and now they were approaching Ryou's house. 

          #See, it could be the mother.#

          ^Could, he said it could be the mommy.^

          //We're not putting women down, we're just saying that it's highly possible that the abuser is Ryou's mother.//

          ^Well a'course you say that, ya'll are men...I mean BOYS.^

          /I'm staying out of this one./

          ^Oh, I wasn't sayin' that ta you, sugar. I meant the otha boys here.^

          #Just drop it Kel, we got to concentrate on this situation first.#

          ^Fine.^

          /Shhh! Quiet guys, I need to concentrate now./ Yugi walked up to the door and rang the bell twice, waiting for his friend to answer. He was a little surprised though, when a tall, skinny, but not sickly, woman appeared instead of Ryou.  

          "May I help you?"

          "Um...hi. My name is Yugi Motou, I came to get Ryou so we could go to my friend Joey's ho-"

          "I'm sorry but Ryou can't go." Yugi was a lil surprised that Ryou couldn't come, and that she cut him off.

          "Why not?"

          "Because he's grounded, good day to you Yugi." 

          "But-but wait-" The door closed before he could finish, and he stood there for a few seconds. "Grounded? Ryou's never been grounded before. Come to think of it, he's never gotten in trouble before."

          //Something's not right here.//

          ^Well that's obvious Yam, now what are we gonna do 'bout it?^

          /I don't know./

          #Walk over to his window and let's see if he's there.# Yugi nodded and jogged over to his friend's window, which was confidently in the front of the house.

          /Well it's not like I can tap it...*looks up* there' no way I could reach that./

          ^No problem sugar, I'll go check things out while you boys stay here.^

          /Ok./ Kelina vanished from the puzzle and reappeared in Ryou's room, she took a look around and gasped when her eyes landed on Ryou. He was sitting on his bed, wrapping his wounds; blood was visible on the sheets and clothes. The others heard her and asked what was wrong.

          #What's wrong Kel?#

          /Is something the matter with Ryou?/

          ^Oh, the poor darlin'. He's wrapping his wounds. Parts of his sheets and clothes are drippin' in blood and it looks as if he's been cryin'. Oh, I wanna help him.^

          //No Kelina, you can't let yourself be known.//

          ^Oh, but Yam, he needs help.^

          /Get him to come to the window, he'll see me and then I can talk to him./

          ^Kay hun, I'll blow the window open.^ She snapped her fingers and a strong breeze managed to force the panes open. Ryou quickly took notice and rushed over to close it, then he spotted Yugi below. 

          "Hey Ryou! I knocked and your mom said that you're grounded."

          "Uh, yes. I broke a few things when I was rushing out. I have to clean it up now, tell Joey I said sorry will you?"

          "Ok, but can we talk? Can you come down?"

          "No, 'fraid I can't Yugi, but I'll talk to you later, bye!" 

          "No, wait, Ryou!" He shut the window and went back to his bed, leaving a shocked and sorta annoyed Yugi on the sidewalk. "I am really getting sick of being cut off like that!"

          //Take it easy Yugi, we have to concentrate on other things. Now, did you notice how he was holding his arm?//

          #I did. I saw some bandages on it, and some blood too. He's hurt pretty bad.#

          ^Sugar, what should I do now?^

          /Come back, I'll find some way around this-/

          //No, wait. Kel, stay with Ryou and watch over him until I get back.//

          /What do you mean Yami?/

          ^Yes, what do you mean sugar?^

          //I have to take care of something, but in the meantime, Kel will stay with Ryou and make sure that he doesn't get hurt anymore.//

          #I'll stay with her too-#

          //No, you have to stay with Yugi, the last thing I need is Yanazi breathing down my back about leaving my charges alone.//

          #All right.#

          ^You got it Yam.^

          /What about me?/

          //You tell Joey that you guys won't be coming, then go home and wait for me. Don't worry, I won't be long.//

          /Ok./ Then Yami disappeared, Kelina went to keep an eye on Ryou, and Yugi and Harlon started for Joey's house.

~*~*~*~*~

SS-Sry, that's all I got.

Tym-Why? You usually write more than that.

SS-Cuz...it's really late *clock says 11:48pm* and I got tests to study for. 

Tym-Oh that's right...you guys have finals next week.

SS-YEA! Which reminds me, unless Tym secretly writes the next ch. (which won't happen cuz he's got to finish his own fanfic) the next one won't be up for a while. I got to study...kk, r/r Sweet Dreams! Bye!

Tym-Yea, she's gotta finish the semester without droppin' her grades. Ashes ta Ashes digidudes!  


	2. Not as easy as it seems

SS-Well, I'm back an better than ever!

Tym-Uh huh...in other words, she finished all her finals.

SS-YEA-NESS!!! Now I can concentrate on my fic.

Tym-I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing though...=/ 

&**words to readers**&

~Sorry this came out so late, but since finals are over, this story should be coming out faster. However, I'm kinda losing inspiration for this fic. I'm going to finish it, no doubt about that, but I'm going to put out another one. It'll be a Digimon fic, I know that I'm the YGO authoress and Tym is the Digimon author, but he dared me to try one. Check out my profile thingy for more info.

Last Time 

~Yugi and his guardians found out that Ryou's being hurt by his mother, and set out to do something about it. While Yugi+Harlon go to Joey's house, and Kelina stays with Ryou...all of them are wondering where Yami went. 

~*~*~*~*~

                                          ** Sent to Save Me**

                                                Chapter 2

****On the street****

          As soon as Yami disappeared, Yugi started for Joey's house.

          /Where do you think Yami went?/

          #I don't know, but knowing him, probably somewhere quiet so he can think because he sounded really serious.#

          /Oh. Has he always done stuff by the book?/

          #No, actually a 180 the other way, always going over the line. But when it comes to things like this, he's as serious as lion on the prowl.# They crossed the street and Yugi finally spotted Joey's house just a few yards away.

          /How long have you known him?/

          #Yami? Uh...we knew each other before...you know, dying, but I'd say we became better friends after I showed him how to fly.#

          /Wait. He didn't know how to fly?!/

          #Well, he could glide, but after he got over the ocean...dropped like a rock.#

          /We have to talk more about this later, but quiet. I'll make this quick so we can hurry home./ He knocked on the door and waited for his blonde-haired friend to answer. *door opens*

          "Who's there-oh. Hey Yug. C'mon in, I was beginning ta think that you forgot or somethin'."

          "Ah, well, the thing is...that I can't. Well, I mean...Ryou's grounded, and I can't make it either, sorry."

          "S'ok Yug, I unda'stand. Catch ya later k?" 

          "Ok Joey, bye!"

          "Cya later bud." *door closes* Once the door closed Yugi began sprinting back home. 

          #You don't have to run so fast Yugi.#

          /I know...but...the sooner I...get home, the better. Hopefully...Yami's already there...waiting. Then we can...can talk about...what to do./ (There're cuts in between because it's difficult for Yugi to 'talk' and run at the same time). At his blistering pace, it only took 1 or 2 minutes for Yugi to get home, and it's a good thing too, for Yugi was exhausted, and Yami was already there waiting.  

****In heaven (Same time as when Yugi went to Joey's house)****

          He walked over to the same spot where he was talking to Bakura before, searching for his companion. "Bakura! Where are you?" He walked over to the same cloud and looked again. "C'mon out Bakura! I know that you're here!" On cue, the white haired angel stepped out of the shadows, and faced the multi-colored hair guardian. 

          "What are you shouting about Yami? What's the matter?"

          "Lots of things. Listen, my charge is a friend of that boy you want to protect, and he went over to his house today."

          "...So?"

          "We didn't actually get in there, but Kel did. She told us that...uh.. Ryou? Yes Ryou was badly hurt." Bakura uncrossed his arms. "He was wrapping his arm, and throwing away his blood-stained shirt. Bakura, he's in a lot of trouble. Harlon, Kel, Yugi, and I have deduced that his mother is the source of this, and that if we don't stop her soon...the boy will end up in a world of hurt." Bakura blinked once, then turned around and started walking away.

          "Bakura don't walk away from me!" He stopped dead in his tracks, but didn't turn to face him. "You have to start taking this seriously! This won't be as easy as you think, but you have to help him!" He lowered his voice and walked up to him. "What did Yanazi say?"

          "He said that I can start as soon as I'm ready." Yami thought about that. When Yanazi gave him his assignment, he pushed him into it as soon as he got over the shock. 

          'He must know the danger this boy is in, so why is he giving Bakura all the time he needs? I smell another plan, but what could Yanazi be thinking? If Ryou doesn't get help soon, who know what'll happen to him. *looks at his friend* There's only so much I can do, especially since Yanazi gave Bakura the mission. But he won't take this seriously until he sees how much trouble the boy's in. However, I have Yugi to watch over, and I can't keep making Harlon do my job. *sigh* I guess I'll just give Bakura the same treatment Yanazi gave me.' Yami started pushing Bakura towards the gate, but the other didn't want to follow.

          "Yami what in heaven's name do you think you're doing!?" Thankfully, Yami was a little stronger than his friend, so they were both by the gate in seconds. 

          "Bakura, I'm doing this for your own good." As they reached the golden doors, Bakura grabbed the railing and held on for dear life. 

          "The only thing you're doing is pissing me off!"

          "Listen, if you don't help the boy soon, there might not be anyone to help! So you better get your ass down there now before I hurt you!" With one more powerful push, Bakura fell off the clouds and headed for the world below them. Yami quickly closed the gate, preventing him from coming back for now. Then he headed for the Elysium Circle, but stopped after a few feet when the person he was looking for appeared. 

          "Yami, I know that you didn't like it when I pushed you out, but you don't have to take it out on Bakura." Yanazi smiled, then motioned Yami to walk with him.

          "Yanazi, with all due respect, why did you say that Bakura could leave any time he wanted? You know perfectly well what condition the boy is in! How could you do such a thing!?!"

          "Calm down Yami, calm down. First of all, yes, I do know what condition Ryou is in, but Bakura has to learn these kind of lessons on his own." 

          "Lessons? What lesson are you talking about?!! The-the one where you learn how to watch over a charge that's on the brink of death!?? I-I-I don't even think he knows how to heal!!!"

          "Probably not." Yami stared at him.

          "THEN WHY IN HEAVEN'S NAME DID YOU SEND HIM ON THIS ASSIGNMENT?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

          "Yami please, hush." Yami mouthed the word 'hush', grabbed his head, and started to pace around. Yanazi seemed amused by this and smiled. "Yami, you know I have my reasons for things, and if I say that Bakura is ready for this, then you should believe it too." The angel eventually calmed down, and replied in his normal voice, at a normal tone.

          "I'm sorry, but I don't think he's taking this seriously. I don't think he knows the first thing to do." Yanazi turned and started walking away.

          "Neither did you, and everything turned out fine, right?" He kept walking, then said one last thing before disappearing into the Elysium Circle. "Oh, and you should get back to your charge, he's almost home." Yami sighed, then hurried off back to Yugi.

****In Yugi's room****

          As the boy entered his house, he was out of breath, so he stopped to calm down. He looked around, no one else was home, but the note on the table was clearly left by one of them. 

          "Yugi, your father and I went shopping for a new entertainment center. We'll be back before dinner, call Granpa at the shop if you need anything. -Mom"

          "Well that's good, *checks the clock* that means we got a solid 3 hrs to think of something to do about Ryou."

          #Does that mean I can come out?# 

          "Oh yea, sure." The puzzle glowed, and as the light vanished, a boy around the age of 14 appeared. He had hazel eyes, which complemented his blonde-ish, brown hair. Unlike Yami, he didn't ask for another set of clothes, so he was still in his regular loose, blue, capris, with a large, yellow t-shirt. "Yami! Yami, you can come down! My parent's are out!" In an instant, Yami appeared, Yugi assumed he was just invisible, not up in his room. "So, where did you go?" 

          "I was up there, asking Bakura some questions."

          "Bakura...as in..."

          "As in the angel that might be your friend's guardian."

          "Actually Harlon, he is Ryou's guardian."

          "What?! How?!" Yami motioned the others to sit down on the couch, then he told them everything. Just as he finished, something suddenly came to mind. 

          "Wait a minute, Yugi, is Kel still watching Ryou?"

          "Yea, I think so. I haven't talked to her since you left, why?" 

          "Call her back, I need to talk to her."

          "Ok." /Kelina? Kelina?/

          ^What's up sugar?^

          /Kelina, you need to come back. Yami's here and he needs to tell you something. Oh, how's Ryou?/

          ^He's the same. He finished wrapping his wounds, and cried himself to sleep, the poor lil darling. I looked for his mama, and found her in her room with a bunch of alcoholic beverages. She's been drinking Yugi, so I made her fall asleep, that way Ryou can rest in peace.^ 

          /Good job./

          ^I'll say, I'm impressed with myself. She oughta be in dreamland for 4 or 5 hours.^

          /Great, now you can come back./

          ^Alright sugar I'm comin'.^

          "Yugi? Is she coming?" Yugi blinked, then realized that he was 'talking' for a while, and that it must have worried Yami.

          "She's coming." Just then, the chestnut haired angel appeared, and joined in.

          "Hey ya'll, so what's goin' on?" It wasn't long till she was caught up with everything, and the boys were up to speed with Ryou's condition. "Now what're we gonna do?"

          "Doesn't seem like there's much we can do seeing as Bakura will be taking over soon." The Yugi and Kelina nodded at Harlon's statement, but Yami seemed to think otherwise.

          "Just because he's taking over, doesn't mean we can't pop in every now and then to help out."

          "But Yami, he's not our charge."

          "It doesn't matter, we have to make sure that Ryou is ok."

          "Yugi's right. *sigh* Ok, Bakura should be there by now, Kel, why don't you go see what he's doing?"

          "Alright..."

          "But you can't let him see you."

          "Right Yugi, I know. I'll be back in a sec." As she disappeared, the boys started talking again, but were interrupted when Kelina dropped onto the couch. "S***!"

          "Kel, what happened? Why are you here?"

          "Ugh, I couldn't get into his room!"

          "What?" The three boys said in unison.

          "Ya'll hear me, I tried to get in, but something pushed me back."

          "Hm, I'll try."

          "Fine Yam, but I don't think it'll do much good." She got up and dusted herself off. "I'm jus as powerful as you are ya know, so there's no way that you can get through if I can't."

          "Let me try." However, just like Kelina, he ended up on the floor, seconds after he left. 

          "Told ya Yam."

          "S***!" Harlon made a statement while helping the angel up.

          "Who would put a field around Ryou's house?"

          "Field?"

          "Oh, that's sorta like a protective force. Nothing can get in unless whoever made it programmed it to."

          "My bet's on Yanazi. He told me that Bakura had a few lessons to learn, which means..."

          "Which means that we can't help the poor darlin'."

          "But-but what if Bakura doesn't help Ryou!? I can't sit by and let my friend get hurt!"

          "Don't worry Yugi, we'll figure something out." 

****In Ryou's room****

          Ryou was still sleeping when Bakura arrived. He had stopped crying, and seemed content at the moment. Bakura looked around the room. 'Yami wasn't lying, this does look a little more serious than I had imagined. But when I first came to him (I think the scene in the epilogue.) he wasn't like this...how did things turn so sour so quickly?' He walked over to the boy's bed, which had some red blood stains on it, and sat down near him. He examined the boy's wrapped arm, noticing that it was poorly covered, so the cuts were still visible. 

          'Well, time to show Yami that I do know what I'm doing.' He gently touched the wounds, but nothing came, well, actually something did.

          "Um...herm...."

          'D*** it!' He waved his hand and became invisible, then got off the bed and stood near the wall.

          "Mmmm...huh? Is someone there?" Ryou looked around, but no one was there. The window was cracked open a bit, but he remembered leaving it open to get some air. He got up and walked over anyway, just to make sure. After he looked out, he closed/locked it, then he rubbed his face and lied down on his bed again. Ryou pulled one of his blankets over him before slowly closing his eyes, letting the sleepiness overtake him. When Bakura was sure that his charge was in dreamland, he became visible and walked over to the bed again.

          'How did Yami do this? Hmph, well if he can do it so can I.' Once again he reached over and touched the cut, and once again Ryou woke up. Quickly, the inexperienced angel hid while the boy propped himself up with his good elbow. "Whose there?" When he received no answer, he fell and tried to continue his slumber. Bakura came out again and shook his head. 

          'That's obviously not the way to heal. Hm...this might take awhile.'

~*~*~*~*~

SS-That's all I got. *glances at the clock, 11:20pm* Getting tired, I'm going to go have sweet dreams. 

Tym-Don't have anything else to say?

SS-Um, oh yea, plz r/r...don't kno when the next ch.'s coming, but I'm sure Tym will remind me to write it. I'll submit this tomorrow, nite.

Tym-Don't worry I'll remind her, and check out her other story...if you're a Digimon fan. I know I am! So Ashes ta Ashes people, catch ya'll later!


	3. Believe in the unseen

SS-Hiya minna-san. I told you the ch.s would come out sooner didn't I?

Tym-Uh huh, I'm amazed she could get another out so quickly too. 

SS-I'm trying to get through this quickly, so...Tym...

Tym-I got it, I got it...DISCLAIMER: We don't own YGO, got it? Good.

&**words to readers**&

~Tkx to all you people who stayed with this fic! I know it's coming along very slowly, but I'm doing my best. Oh, and if anyone wants extra info. on any of my fics or have questions about them (Some things can be very confusing.) feel free to e-mail or im me: NiteDragon211 (@aol.com for e-mail). 

Last Time 

~Yugi and his guardians regrouped and tried to think of a plan to help Ryou, but can't even get near him when they discover a field around his house. It's  not like it matters anyway because Bakura was finally assigned to watch over Ryou...if only he knew how to heal him.

~*~*~*~*~

                                      **     Sent to Save Me**

                                                Chapter 3

****Ryou's room****

          It may have taken a couple tries, but Bakura eventually got the hand of healing. Though, he didn't mend all his wounds, just the ones that were causing Ryou the most pain. He remembered hearing other angels say that once they finished healing, they were sent back to get another assignment, and that was something Bakura did not want. Ryou's father came back around 5:15 or so, which was very fortunate because the sleeping spell Kelina had cast on his mother wore off minutes after he got back. But she wouldn't dare hurt to her son if his dad were there, so as long as he stayed home, Ryou was safe. 

          Bakura had stayed in Ryou's room the entire day, after all, what else could he do? Ryou woke around 4:45, but didn't leave his room, fearing that his mother would hurt him again. He occupied himself with other things though, like the fact that most of the cuts he had gotten only hours ago were gone. He was happy and scared at the same time, but as long as they were healed, he didn't bother to question it. Ryou was busy putting away his blood stained items and cleaning up until his dad got back with dinner, then he had to go out of his room. At first he was hesitant, but realized that his mom wouldn't hurt him if his dad were with him. 

          Everything went smoothly from there, for his mother was busy doing who knows what in her room while his father was reading downstairs. As time passed, his parents retired to their room for bed, as did Ryou. He was in his bed and fast asleep by 10:30pm, and that was when Bakura revealed himself again. 

          'His life sure is boring when he's confined to his house. I mean, our little adventure into the pyramid is like paradise compared to this. I wonder if it'll be like this everyday when I become his permanent guardian...well, there's two ways to find out. But I think I'll skip the 1st way an do the 2nd one now. He phased out of Ryou's room and reappeared in the game shop in seconds, then started looking for Yugi's room. When he only found Yugi's granpa, he walked out onto the sidewalk and started thinking. 'Well if he's not there where could he be?' Then he remembered Yami saying that he had to hit two houses before finding the boy. He racked his brains, and once he thought of another possibility, he snapped his fingers and vanished. 

          The house he appeared in was deadly quiet, but he ignored the silence and searched for Yugi's room. He smiled when he found it and floated in. Bakura stopped when he saw the boy, then scanned the room until his eyes landed on the puzzle. As he picked it up it began to glow, he shut his eyes from the light, and when he opened them he was met by three unhappy angels. 

          "Ah, hello-" Harlon placed his hand over his mouth while the other two dragged him out of the room and down to the living room. When they let go of him he wasn't too happy either. "What was that for-"

          "What do you think you're doing here Bakura?!" Yami kept his voice low, and ushered the white haired angel to do the same.

          "I came here to ask you something." He looked at the other two, who weren't too pleased to see him. "Though, I didn't expect you two to be here as well."

          "We're here ta help Yam."

          "Yea, now tell us your question Bakura."

          "This is between me and Yami, it is none of your concern."

          "It's out concern if it involves lil Yugi."

          "Uh huh, were not leaving-"

          "No, Harlon it's ok." The other two stared at him.

          "Whadda you mean sugar?"

          "I said it's ok. You two go back to Yugi, don't worry, I won't be long."

          "Ok."

          "If you say so sugar, but give a holler if ya need anythin'." After Yami nodded, his friends left, leaving Yami and Bakura alone in the dark. 

          "Now, why have you come here Bakura?" He crossed his arms, waiting for his companion's reply.

          "As much as I hate to admit it, I need your advice." Yami raised an eyebrow at him, it was seldom Bakura would ask him for anything.

          "My advice? On what?"

          "Well, it's more of a question. What's life like as a permanent guardian? I mean, is it very boring?"

          "Are you reconsidering your _brilliant_ idea?" He cast the comment aside and continued. 

          "No, I'm just curious of what my new life would be like." When Yami saw that Bakura wasn't kidding, he sighed, uncrossed his arms, and replied. 

          "Well, it depends on your charge. Yugi, for example, goes out with his friends a lot. He doesn't spend much time inside, so we (Harlon+Kelina+Yami) are never really bored. Of course, that's just us."    

          "Do you have to go everywhere he goes?"

          "Yes, that's generally what a permanent guardian does."

          "But-but you have those two to help you."

          "Doesn't matter, I rarely leave Yugi alone unless it's very important. Like the time I came to talk to you."

          "That reminds me, why the hell did you push me off?!!" Yami smiled, but aside from that, didn't move.

          "Quiet Bakura, if you wake Yugi I'll have to push, or actually, kick you out." The other angel just sneered.

          "We'll talk about that later, but what about my other question?"

          "I told you, it depends on your charge. Just because he's friends with Yugi doesn't mean he's the same as him." Yami turned around and started floating up the stairs. "I really need to get back to Yugi now, but if you want, we can continue this conversation later."

          "Hmph, fine." He turned to leave too, until Yami cut in.

          "Oh and Bakura, never, and I mean never come to me when I'm sleeping." With that he vanished, and the other angel did the same.

****Next day 9:30am****

          Yugi stirred as the sun's bright rays streamed through his blinds and swept across his face. He turned away from them, but as a result, fell off his bed. He never met the carpet though, as Yami had stopped his fall. He raised his hand slowly, then brought it back down so that Yugi was now on his bed. Then he looked over to the curtains and snapped his fingers, instantly they flew up, and Yugi pulled the covers over his eyes.

          "Yugi, you have to wake up now." The little boy stayed where he was and replied. 

          "It's still winter break Yami...let me sleep in." He sighed, then went over to him. He sat at the edge, then shook the blankets.

          "Come on Yugi, you said that you were going to go talk to Ryou today." 

          "Later...I bet Bakura's letting him sleep in."

          "Ryou doesn't know about him yet, and the sooner you talk to him the better."

          "No!" He clung to the soft covers tighter, so Yami got up and snapped his fingers again. The blankets, despite Yugi's tremendous efforts, flew off the bed, and Yami went over and grabbed the boy's arms. He tried to pull him up, but it wasn't working. He thought for a moment, then started tickling Yugi, that always worked. And it worked again, while the boy was laughing, Yami was able to pull him off. Sighing in defeat, Yugi rubbed his eyes and pouted. "You know, you're meaner when you're here everyday." Yami just ruffled his messy hair and pushed him towards the door.

          "That's my job Yugi, now you go get ready." 

          "All right, all right, I'm going!" As he walked out to the bathroom, Kelina appeared. 

          "It's 'bout time you got him outta bed. Ryou was up an atom at least half an 'our ago."

          "Well, it is winter break, he deserves to sleep in." She nodded. "Did you get past the field?"

          *sigh* "No, but I could see pretty clearly through the window. He's doin' ok, no beatings since yes'taday." 

          "Good. Yugi should be leaving pretty soon, hopefully Ryou will be able to come out this time."

          "For his sake I hope so." While Yami and Kelina returned to the puzzle, Yugi got dressed, ate, and left. He was determined to help his friend one way or another, and he had about a week to do it (School starts after the week). When he reached the familiar house, he took a deep breath, then rang the bell. 

          "Oh, good morning Yugi." Thankfully, Ryou's father answered the door this time, so he was a little calmer.

          "Good morning, is Ryou up yet?" Even though Yami had told him Ryou was up already, it pays to be polite.

          "Yes, I think he's up in his room, hold on." He walked to Ryou's room and called his name, in a minute or so Yugi saw his friend coming.

          "Hello Yugi. What are you doing here?"

          "I wanted to talk to you. Do you think we can go for a walk?" He thought about it for a second, then nodded. 

          "Sure." He told his dad where he was going, then closed the door and followed his friend. "So, what did you want to talk about Yugi?" Yugi didn't know how to approach this. He certainly couldn't come with it straight forward, and starting with the angel thing wouldn't help him either. He'd have to lead into it somehow.

          "Well, um...nothing in particular. I just wanted to know how things have been going for you. I mean, did you enjoy your vacation and all?" He figured that Ryou would mention Bakura, and he'd get into it from there.

          "Oh, it was fine." This wasn't going anywhere fast.

          "Any-anything special happen?"

          "Like what?"

          "Uh...meet anyone?"

          "Now that you mention it, I did meet someone who did look an awful lot like me. We went to this archaeological dig too, in fact, that's where I found this ring." He lifted the golden item that was hanging around his neck and handed it to him. Yugi took it and examined it closely. 

          'I bet Bakura's in here, but there's no way I can tell for sure.' "This is really cool Ryou, now I won't feel so weird walking with this around my neck." He gave it back to Ryou and he put it on.

          "I'll take that as a good thing." They kept walking, eventually they came to the park, so they decided to sit on the swings. "Is that all you wanted to talk to me about Yugi?" Yugi held onto the metal chains that connected the swing to the pole and moved his feet in the sand.

          "Um...well, not exactly."

          "What else is on your mind? You know that you can tell me."

          "I know...it's just...really hard to talk about."

          "Try me, I promise I won't tell anyone."

          "Um..." /Yami, should I tell him?/

          //Don't bring up the part about abuse, but I think you can let him in on the angel part.//

          /Ok. Wait...the part about you and Kelina and Harlon...or the part about Bakura?/

          //The part about Bakura would be less confusing for now. Ease him into it though.//

          /Ok./ Ryou shook Yugi's shoulder, obviously wondering why he was staring off into space.   

          "Yugi, are you all right?" Yugi blinked, then faced him and nodded.

          "Yea, I'm all right. Um...Ryou, what I'm going to tell you is...really unbelievable. In fact, it sounds like a fairy tale or something, but you have to believe me."

          "Ok. What is it?" Yugi took a deep breath.

          "Kay, um...you know Bakura? Well, he's here." 

          "He is?"

          "Uh huh, well, not in the park...actually, he might be in the park...but, not physically."

          "What do you mean?"

          "Well...let's just say he's very close."

          "Close as...in Japan?"

          "Closer."

          "...Domino?"

          "Closer."

          "...He'll attend our school?"

          "Spiritually maybe, but...even closer."

          "This is getting weird Yugi, what are you trying to say?"

          "Ok...the truth is...the truth is..."

          "Yugi if you finish that sentence with 'you can't handle the truth' I'll hit you. Just spit it out."

          "Bakura is and angel and he's watching over you and he might even be in that ring right now." He said it so fast Ryou hardly caught it, but he did, and he couldn't believe it. He laughed nervously, then started swinging.

          "Come on Yugi, tell me the truth. What is it?" Yugi grabbed the metal chain of Ryou's swing, stopping him.

          "Ryou...you said that you would believe me. Besides, why would I make it up?" The other boy looked at him strangely.

          "Because it isn't real." He got up and started to walk away. 

          "Ryou!" He kept walking. "Please, you have to believe me! Ryou!" The more he yelled the faster he walked away. Yugi didn't follow him, he just gave a defeated sigh and fell into the swing.

          /Well that didn't go to exactly how I planned it would./

          //Don't worry, I figure that Bakura won't be able to stay hidden much longer anyway.//

          /Be that as it may, I want Ryou to know. I don't think he'll take it well if Bakura pops out from the shadows and starts talking to him./

          //Well, didn't I pop out of the shadows too?//

          /Yea, but 1) I woke and thought you were a volunteer. And 2) No one tried to tell me about you like I did for Ryou./

          //Will that make that much difference?//

          /Maybe.../

          //Let's just go home, hopefully everything will turn out fine.//

          /Ok./ Yugi got up and started walking home, still talking to Yami. /When do you think Bakura will come?/

          //I'm not too sure, but knowing him, he'll just be careless and Ryou will walk in on him.//

          /Heh, just like you did./ Yami snapped his fingers, causing Yugi to trip. The lil boy retaliated by grabbing the puzzle and shaking it vigorously. /Do that again and tear this apart!!!!/

          Meanwhile, Ryou had gotten home, and headed for his room. His father had the day off, so he was safe from any sudden attacks. When he was in his room and the door was closed completely, he took of the ring, threw it onto his bed, and went sat in his chair. He put his hands on his ears and closed his eyes, shutting off all noise. 'How can that be true? What kind of trick is Yugi trying to pull? *sigh* However, Yugi rarely lies...so why would this be an exception? This just doesn't make any sense.' 

          Outside, Yugi just passed by Joey's house, and was 'talking' to his guardians.

          /I think we made a big mistake./

          //No, he had to know the truth. I mean, it's better than him waking up and seeing him isn't it?//

          /....../

          //Isn't it?//

          /....../

          ^Don't pressure him Yam, it's hard having a friend who won't believe you.^

          //I know...//

          #Just leave him be...both of them. Give Ryou some time to think it over, and let Yugi get some rest. This hasn't been easy for him you know.#

          //Fine.//

          ^In the mean time, why don't I try to get to Ryou again?^

          //No, I'll do it.//

          ^Why?^

          //Because, I need to finish that conversation I had with Bakura earlier. And I think now's the best time to do it.// He left without another word, and the others didn't 'talk' the rest of the way back.

          'I hope Yami can help. This is going to be hard for Ryou, and the beatings aren't helping much either. *sigh* When did things get so complicated?' 

          (A/N: I'm adding in a little more because I got no clue when the next chapter's coming...hopefully soon though.)

****In the ring****

          "I knew Yami was going to ask Yugi to talk to Ryou. Why didn't I stop him?!?! Now look at him, he won't get anywhere near the ring. Great...    just...great." Suddenly, a voice sounded in the ring, causing Bakura to jump a lil...just a lil.

          "Bakura! We need to talk...now!" After figuring out who it was, he replied.

          "Where are you Yami? How are you able to talk through the ring?"

          "Through the puzzle. Now take down the field and let me in!"

          "Field? What field?" 

          "The one you put up around Ryou's house. Take it down and let me in."

          "I didn't put a field up, why would I?" Yami thought for a minute.

          'Hm...Yanazi really didn't want Bakura to have my help. But this is important...and every field has it's back fences.' "Come outside, then you can bring me in." Bakura appeared next to Yami, out on the front lawn. He grabbed Yami's arm, and phased back into Ryou's room so that they could see him.

          "So, why have you come here?"

          "Well, you know that Yugi told Ryou about you and all."

          "Hmph...how could I forget?"

          "He needs to see that it's real."

          "Why now?"

          "The sooner he knows the truth, the better...believe me. I mean, when I thought that I was never going to see Yugi again...I really wished I had shown myself to him earlier. Now that I'm his guardian I don't think that, but you might not become Ryou's guardian. So, maybe you should make the most of it." Bakura stared at him, then to Ryou, who was now walking near the bed, looking at the ring. He was about to answer, until Yami started to vanish.

          "Oh great...Yanazi really doesn't want me to help you. Look, just think about what I said and hurry!" He disappeared, leaving Bakura alone with Ryou once again.

          *sigh* 'Now what do I do?' He ran his hand through his hair and paced around. 'Well, if I tell him, he'll either freak out, or be glad to see me. I could just wait and see what happens, but I suppose the sooner he knows about me, the sooner I can help him about his mother.' Ryou had picked up the ring...looking at it intently. Then he dropped it, and shook his head. 'Hm...well I certainly can't do much if he doesn't know I'm here.' he weighed his options one more time, and upon reaching a decision, he sighed again. 'I hope I'm doing the right thing. And if I'm not...it's all Yami's fault for talking me into it.'

          Ryou got up and put the ring on his dresser, then turned to the window, unaware of the other boy's presence...that is...until he made himself known.

          "Hello Ryou." Ryou jumped and landed on his bed, shifting his view, looking for the source of the voice. "It's just me, you don't have to be scared like that.

          "Me? M-me who?" Slowly, Bakura appeared, and Ryou stared all the while. 

          "Me. Just me."     

          "Ba-bakura?!!? You mean...Yu-yugi wasn't...lying?!"

          "You said it yourself, he rarely lies." Ryou sat up, still keeping his distance.

          "You-you were listening to me?"

          "Don't worry, I made sure you still had your privacy."

          "So-so you were really...you were really in the ring?" 

          "Uh huh. Just as Yami stays in the puzzle, I reside in the ring until you call me. Or until I feel like coming out." 

          "Yami? Whose that?" Bakura took a seat in the chair near the desk... this was going to take awhile.

          'I wonder if Yami and Yugi started off like this.'

~*~*~*~*~

SS-Done! Finally!

Tym-Yup yup! I must say that one took awhile.

SS-Well, I have it all mapped out in my head...it's just hard to put it into words and stuff.

Tym-As long as you can get it out everything's okey doke.

SS-Got that right. Ok, plz r/r minna-san! An I'll start workin on the next ch. right away. Sweet Dweams!

Tym-She also has that Digimon fic to work on, 'Hold my Hand', so don't blame her for getting this out late (I was pushing her to do that one). Ashes dudes!

~Didu see Super Bowl 37?! I was rootin for the Raiders, but I guess this wasn't their yr. Congrats to the Buccaneers though, it was a great game for those of you who were busy with other stuff that Sunday. 

Tym-Where was the Digi-bowl?!?!?!?!? 

SS-Not this yr. Tym...not this yr.


	4. Some plan

SS-Hey minna-san. I know what you're going to say...I'm very sorry that this took forever!!! I won't trouble you with my reasons though, I'll just start now and explain little by little later on.

Tym-She hasn't been working much on her other fic (Hold my Hand) either, so don't think that she blew this one off to continue that one. SS doesn't work like that.

SS-Yea, I update my fics together, so HmH's next chapter will come out today just like this one. But anywayz...

Tym-DISCLAIMER: We don't own YGO or DGM...if we did, we'd never get the next episodes out anywayz. 

&**words to readers**&

~I can't believe you dudes and dudettes are still hanging in with this fic! TKX A BUNDLE! Well, I got my life back on track, so this should start rolling along again. And I see new names! Cool! Welcome to the fic! Enjoy the ride! (Even if it's a slow one =) Tym-Let us begin!

Last Time 

~Yugi tried to tell Ryou about the angels, but he wouldn't listen or believe him (Who would?). But after some convincing from Yami, Bakura decided to show himself. However, he found that explaining things to Ryou was going to be a harder job than he had expected. 

~*~*~*~*~

                             **   Sent to Save Me**

                                              Chapter 4

****In Ryou's room****

          It had been about 2 hours since Ryou had asked that fateful question, but the two were still engaged in an interesting conversation. Bakura had already told Ryou about Yanazi, Yami, his friends, most of the rules, and his mission and the boy already seemed confused. He felt like he had only scratched the surface of his story, but he didn't want to trouble Ryou's mind anymore than he had to. 

          "So...that's basically it right?" Bakura decided to end it there, and if the need should arise, he'd explain further. 

          "Yes, that's pretty much it." Ryou nodded, got up from his bed, grabbed the phone, and began dialing Yugi's number. "What are you doing?"

          "I have to talk to Yugi about all of this, and apologize while I'm at it." Bakura would have continued the argument until Ryou hushed him. "Hello, Yugi?"

          "Ryou? Hey...what's up?" 

          "Yugi, I need to talk to you about all this...uh...angel business. Can you meet me at the park?" He noticed that Yugi perked up a lil, probably glad that Ryou was giving this situation more consideration.

          "Sure! I'll see you there in a few minutes." He hung up and prepared to leave...then his guardian cut in.

          "Wait a minute, aren't you forgetting something?" Ryou's confused look was answer enough for him. He sighed, then tossed the ring at him. Ryou caught it promptly and put it on, but he was still clueless. "You have to wear that ring at all times. It's our only link, without it, I won't be able to keep track of you."

          "Oh, ok. I'll remember that." He turned and left.

          "You had better." He disappeared into the ring, following his charge out the door.

****At the park****       

          /I hope Ryou understands everything now./

          //I thought he did. Isn't that why he asked you to meet him here?// Yugi shifted his feet in the sand.

          /Uh...not exactly. He just said that he wanted to talk to me about the angel thing. He didn't actually say he believed it./

          //What?!//

          /Don't worry, I'm sure everything'll turn out ok.-/ Yugi snapped out of his trance when Ryou tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up.

          "Yugi, are you ok?"

          "Um hm. I was just...uh...thinking." Ryou sat next to him (On the swings) and took a deep breath before talking.

          "Well Yugi, first of all, I'm sorry."

          "Sorry for what?"

          "For not believing you earlier. I had to find out the...weird way that you were right."

          "Oh." /I guess that means that Bakura showed himself./

          //That's good. I wonder how much he told Ryou though.//

          /I think I'm about to find out./ "So, your angel came out?"

          "To put it simply, yes. He told me about everything I think. The head elder, his assignment, and your angels as well. Uh...they're with you now, right?"

          "Yea. In my puzzle." Yugi fingered the puzzle slightly, a small smile appeared on his face.

          "My guardian is in the ring, he said that I have to carry it around with me wherever I go. Otherwise I might lose our...connection or something like that."

          'Hm...Ryou said that Bakura told him everything. How could he leave out the part about the link?' He would have mulled it over some more until the ring started to glow. A figure appeared that looked almost identical to that of his friend. He stared at Yugi for a moment, then called for the angel within the puzzle.

          "Yami. Yami get out here now." Almost immediately Yugi's twin emerged, staring at him. "Come, we need to talk." Yami followed, but was stopped by his charge's call.

          "Yami? What's going on?" He turned to face the lil boy.

          "We just need to talk, that's all. I'll be right back." After receiving an 'ok' nod, Yami resumed his walk into the brush. Yugi turned from the bushes to Ryou, who was simply a lil stunned. 

          'I can't blame him for being shocked, I was too when I discovered the truth about Yami. Hm...wonder what they're talking about?' 

****Behind the brush****

          When the two were a little into the brush, Yami turned to him. "So, why have you called me here?"

          "I just wanted to let you know that I thought of a plan for what to do about the abuse problem." Yami was sorta shocked that he had thought of something so quickly.

          'I wonder how much thought he put into this.' "Well, what is it?" 

          "It's simple, just get rid of the problem." Once again, Yami was shocked. He raised an eyebrow at him.

          "Just...get rid of the problem?" He paced a bit. "Sure...you can just make abuse disappear. Make it fly right out the window...right?" Bakura shook off the comment quickly.

          "No, but you're surprisingly not far off. All I have to do is remove the source of the abuse. His mother." Yami thought about that for a moment. He had to admit it, the idea did have some reason in it. 

          'Get rid of the mother, put her in jail? Send her to a recuperating center? I didn't think that Bakura would think that rationally.' "That could work. What are you going to do? Send her to a center to get help?" The other chuckled lightly, obviously amused by his friend's reply. 

          "What kind of an angel do you take me for Yami? If I send her to a center there's no guarantee that she'll recover." 

          "Then what did you have in mind?"

          "I was thinking of getting rid of her...permanently." Yami's teasing expression faded instantly. He pulled some branches back to see if either of the charges had heard him. Then he walked right up to Bakura. 

          'I knew he could never think of something rational quickly.' "Are you serious?!" Bakura backed away, clearly uncomfortable with the invasion of personal boundaries. 

          "Does it look like I'm lying Yami? Of course I'm serious! It's a perfectly reasonable solution to the problem." Yami walked right up to his face again.

          "What cloud did you fall from!? How can that idea be rational?! Teenagers need a mother, especially at this weird stage in life. Even though I didn't show it, when I was Ryou's age I needed my mother. You can't just get rid of her! There's no way in heaven Ryou will get near you after he finds out!" The first thing Bakura did was push Yami away, keeping at least 5 feet between them. 

          "Look, I just wanted to tell you my idea, I don't recall asking for your advice on it." The white haired angel turned away from him. 

          "Don't ignore me!" He grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. "Please tell me that you'll at least consider what I said."

          "Do I ever?"

          "Take this seriously Bakura-"

          "You make me take everything seriously Yami." Yami released his grip, went over to the bushes and pulled back some branches.

          "Remember Bakura, if you want to be a Permanente guardian, you can't break his heart. Heaven knows I would never have been Yugi's if I had screwed up a part of his life-" 

          "Wait a minute...who said I was screwing up his life?" Yami let go of the branches, causing a slight rustle that caught the attention of someone on the other side. 

          "How could you not be?! You're killing his mother just so that you might be able to get what you want!" Bakura couldn't stand it anymore, he wasn't going to stand for it.

          "All right Yami listen up! It's my assignment, he's my charge, and I never even asked you for your advice! It doesn't matter how I do it as long as I get Ryou away from harm-"

          "Even if it means possibly causing him more pain?!" Silence. It was only for a minute, but it was enough.

          "Yes. Maybe." They stared at each other, oblivious to everything around them, so how could they have heard their charges behind the bushes? Bakura walked past Yami, slightly pushing him against the shoulder as he did so, and approached the boys on the other side. Yami sighed heavily, then followed him. 

          'He just doesn't get it...' When Yami reached the swings again, he saw Bakura talking to Ryou...though...it didn't look like the younger of the two was really listening. Bakura sighed and returned to the ring, then Ryou got up and left without so much of a goodbye to Yugi. Yugi yelled something at him, it sounded like 'Wait, or maybe they were wrong' but Ryou wouldn't stop. The lil boy turned to Yami, sadness shown in his eyes. 'Did he hear us?'

          "Yami?" The guardian walked towards him, stopping when he was beside the boy. 

          "Yes?" Yugi looked up at him, tears threatening to fall. 

          "Did he mean it?" Yami met his gaze, it pained him to see Yugi like this.

          "Did who mean what?"

          "Is Bakura really going to get rid of Ryou's mother?" Yami's expression didn't change much, but he was shocked.

          "You...you heard us?" Yugi lowered his head, Yami took that as a yes. "How?"

          "Well...it started a couple minutes after you and Bakura left..."

~$^**_flashback_**^$~

_          "So...Yami always helps you?" Yugi nodded._

_          "Uh huh, that's what a guardian does. Doesn't Bakura help you out?"_

_          "Well...he heals me...I guess that counts."_

_          "It's a start-huh?" Yugi looked to the bushes._

_          "What is it Yugi?" Yugi got off his swing and walked over to the source of the sound, Ryou followed. _

_          "I thought I heard something." He pulled the branches back and hushed Ryou as they listened to their guardians. Apparently Bakura had said something awful to cause Yami to yell._

_          "How could you not be?! You're killing his mother just so that you might be able to get what you want!" Bakura couldn't stand it anymore, he wasn't going to stand for it._

_          "All right Yami listen up! It's my assignment, he's my charge, and I never even asked you for your advice! It doesn't matter how I do it as long as I get Ryou away from harm-"_

_          "Even if it means possibly causing him more pain?!" Silence. It was only for a minute, but it was enough._

_          "Yes. Maybe." As the two stood in silence, Yugi gently let go of the branches._

_          "I'm...I'm sure Bakura didn't mean it...Ryou?" Said boy had returned to the swings, he was staring at the sand beneath him, but no tears appeared. Yugi walked over to him and sat down. "Ryou? Ryou...he didn't mean it."_

_          "Did you know?" Yugi blinked._

_          "About what?" He sniffled._

_          "About my mother?" Yugi looked down too...he wasn't sure if he should tell him the truth._

_          "No...but I won't tell anyone-" Bakura came out, which silenced Yugi then and there. As he appraoched the two, Ryou looked up for a second, then back to his feet._

_          "Ryou, are you all right?" No answer, but he didn't get mad at his charge, he just asked again. "Ryou? Are you ready to leave?" He nodded slightly, so Bakura vanished into the ring. Then he got up and left._

~$^**_end flashback_**^$~

          "So that's what I heard before." 

          "Yea...Yami?"

          "What is it?"

          "Is Bakura going to go through with it?" Yami looked up, contemplating his charge's question.

          'I wish I could say no...but I don't think I got through to Bakura. He'll do anything to get what he wants, but would he really go that far?' "I'm not sure Yugi...maybe..."

****In Ryou's room****

          No matter how much Bakura said, Ryou didn't talk to him the whole way home. Even when he had returned to his room he didn't say anything to his guardian. He just tossed the ring onto his bed and sat at his desk. And when Bakura appeared and talked to him in person, Ryou would busy himself with 'homework' or 'projects' and tell Bakura to go away.

          Bakura was very annoyed with his behavior, but didn't act upon it. He just decided to see what caused it later. And he had a feeling it had to do with that boy...Yugi. 

****In Yugi's room****

          It was late at night when Yugi brought up the guardian subject again, since he was out shopping with his parents the entire day he couldn't talk to Yami about it. However, now Yugi was tired, which meant he only had a few minutes to talk before Yami made him go to sleep. Right now Yugi was climbing into his soft bed and Yami was covering him with the fluffy sheets.

          *yawn* "Yami?"

          "Yes?"

          "What are we going to do about Bakura? I mean *yawn* we can't just let him get rid of Ryou's mother." 

          "We aren't going to do anything, but I will. Don't worry Yugi, Harlon, Kelina and I will think of something." Yugi protested.

          "But Ryou's my friend, I have to do something." Yami shushed him, turning off the lights as he did so. 

          "I know Yugi, I know. You can...talk to Ryou about all of this. Maybe explain why Bakura is doing this and prove that he's only thinking of his safety." Yugi didn't seem satisfied with the answer, but it had to do. "And while you're at it, try and help him with the whole abuse topic in general."

          "I suppose I could...but how can I convince him that Bakura is only trying to help him when I don't-*yawn*-don't believe it myself?"

          "Well...start with the abuse and ease your way into the guardian business." Yami noticed that Yugi was growing more and more sleepy as the conversation continued. He knew that Yugi wanted to keep talking (since they always had their best talks at night), but didn't want to deprive him of his much needed rest, especially if he was going to talk to Ryou in the morning. "But for now...you need to sleep." 

          "Aww..." Yugi pouted, he was just like a newborn puppy who had been taken away from his mother. It was very hard to say 'no' to him (even if he wasn't pouting) but he couldn't call himself a guardian if he didn't think of Yugi's health first. 

          "Yugi. Sleep. Now." Yami's stern look matched Yugi's pout, so after a few seconds Yugi broke into a smile and snuggled into his blankets.

          "Kay, nite Yami!" Yami sighed, it was a good one though. He brushed Yugi's smooth hair, and kissed his forehead gently. He would have stayed there beside his sweet charge longer, until he felt another presence in the room. He turned his head to see Bakura, half hidden in the shadows, half bathed in light. He phased outside and expected Yami to follow. He was going to, but couldn't leave Yugi alone. 

          //Harlon...Harlon!// Yami was surprised when he didn't answer. //Harlon!//

          ^Don't waste your breath Yam, Harlon left a few minutes ago.^

          //Left? Where did he go?// 

          ^I don't know, he jus told me that Yanazi had to speak with him. I s'pose he has an assignment.^

          //How? He's down here helping me.//

          ^I got no clue Yam, but what do you want? Maybe I can help instead.^

          //Yea, ok. I need to take care of something. Can you stay here with Yugi until I return?// He got his answer when the girl came out of the puzzle. 

          "Sure sugar. I'd love to watch over the lil cutie." She sat down next to Yugi's bedside, fixing his covers. "Don't worry Yam, everything'll be fine. Now, you go do...whatever it is you need to do."

          "Um hm. Thanks Kel."

          "It's no problem sugar, no problem at all." He phased out of the room and appeared on the street next to an annoyed Bakura.

          "It's about time."

          "Sorry, but I had to make sure that Yugi was going to be ok before I left...unlike some other guardian I know." Clearly still unhappy about their previous meeting, Bakura cut to the chase.

          "Look Yami, I only came to ask you a question, then I'll take my leave." Yami nodded, so he continued. "What did your charge say to Ryou?"

Yami tilted his head.

          "When?"

          "You know when...at the park. We were in the bushes, and they were on the swings. What did Yugi say to Ryou?!" 

          "How should I know? I don't ease drop on my charge, especially when I'm doing something else. I'm an angel Bakura, not a physic."

          "Well he said something because Ryou isn't talking to me at all. He's ignoring me! And I can't do anything to help him if I he won't talk to me!" Yami smiled, he almost forgot that the two boys had listened to their conversation.

          "Huh...I almost forgot, you don't know."

          "Forgot what?" Yami was about to tell him. Then again, it might be better if he didn't know. It would sure show him a thing or two.

          "You know...I don't really feel like telling you. I think that this is one thing you need to learn by yourself." He turned away, but Bakura grabbed his arm.

          "Who do you think you are, Yanazi? Besides, how can I figure out what happened when Ryou won't say anything to me?!?" Yami just shrugged.

"Don't push me Yami, I wouldn't want to get the information out of you the hard way." He raised an eyebrow at him, what could he possibly do? They were both angels...equal in power, but not in knowledge. 

          "What are you going to do? Kill me?" Yami smiled, amused by the situation.

          "I know that I can't hurt you, but *looks up to the window* your charge...is another story." Yami's smile dropped instantly, he quickly turned Bakura around and pinned him to the wall.

          "Lay a finger on Yugi and I'll make you wish you were still buried 10 feet under." He didn't raise his voice, he merely emphasized every word. And that was enough, for Yami had the power to back up his threats. 

          "Then tell me what you know, after all, so many accidents can happen at night." Yami released him, deciding to tell him what Yugi had told him. he didn't want to risk his charge's safety, even though Bakura probably wouldn't do anything to Yugi, he had to be sure.

          "Remember when I let go of the branches at the park?" A nod, he continued. "Well, they heard, so Yugi and Ryou came up to see what it was. They heard everything we said from that point on...including your _brilliant_ plan." Bakura cursed and started pacing. "You see? You can't go through with it. If Ryou won't speak to you when he only heard your idea, do you really think he'll be open with you if you carried it out?" Bakura sighed, it was an angry one, and thought about it.

          'The baka has a point...my plan won't work if Ryou won't talk to me. I have to think of something else.' "What should I do then?"

          "Oh...now you're asking me for advice."

          "Cut the talk, what should I do?"

          "I already suggested taking her to a center or something like that-"

          "No, that won't work."

          "I'm only trying to help, but you're right. He's your charge, and it's your assignment-" Yami looked up, he felt something.

          "What?"

          "It's Yugi...he's awake." Bakura didn't see any point in that statement besides the obvious.

          "So?" Yami answered by disappearing, and reappearing in his charge's room. The other angel sighed and followed. When Yami looked around the room, he noticed that Kelina was gone, and found Yugi sitting up, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

          "Yugi, where's Kelina?" He yawned again, then pointed to the note on the puzzle. Yami picked it up and read it to himself.

          _Yam, I'm sorry but I got to go. Yanazi's callin' me for some reason. Don't worry though, lil Yugi's jus fine. Cya sugar._

_                                                                                      ;* Kel_

          'That's weird, now both of them are gone.' 

          "Yami?" He went over to Yugi.

          "Yes?"

          "Where did Kelina go?" Yami fingered the note.

          "Yanazi called her, I'm not sure why though..." He must have forgotten about Bakura, for the angel was getting quite annoyed.

          "Eh Hrm..." Upon remembering, Yami turned to face him. The other just sighed and walked out into the hallway. 

          "Yami?"

          "I'll be right back, you just try to go back to sleep all right?" The younger nodded, and snuggled into his blankets again. Yami smiled, and quickly fixed the covers before heading out into the hallway.

          "You know...you care about him too much. It's a weakness."

          "Don't get off the subject Bakura, this isn't about me or Yugi."

          "I know, I'm just saying I don't think you realize that you depend on him more than he depends on you."

          "What?"

          "Now that Yugi's healed, he doesn't need you anymore. Or at least, not all the time. You watch over him too much, and I don't think you realize it."

          "I'm not with him all the time anymore, at least, not since I decided to help you out. And I'm supposed to watch over him...it's my job."

          "Fair enough...just know that there's a difference between protecting, and being over protective." Yami didn't like the way this was going, so he cut it off.

          "You know, Yugi's going to talk with Ryou tomorrow, so why don't you consider my ideas now and we can devise a proper plan later." The other smiled, though...there seem to be more behind it than happiness.

          "All right, see you tomorrow." He turned to leave, then glanced back for a second. "Don't forget to consider my idea about being over protective too." There was that smile again, Yami would have said something, but he vanished. So the angel just went back to Yugi's room. He closed the door on his way in and sat in the chair that was still at his bedside. Yami fixed his covers and was about to brush his hair away from his face when Bakura's words flashed in his mind again...

          _"I know, I'm just saying I don't think you realize that you depend on him more than he depends on you."_

          He quickly shook his head. 'What am I thinking? Yugi needs me, that's why Yanazi made me his permanent guardian.' 

          _"I'm not with him all the time anymore, at least, not since I decided to help you out. And I'm supposed to watch over him...it's my job."_

_          "Fair enough...just know that there's a difference between protecting, and being over protective." _

He thought about it longer, and the more he had time to think, the more it seemed true. 'Am I being over protective of Yugi?' 

          _"You know...you care about him too much. It's a weakness." _

          'But...it's my job. He doesn't know what he's saying.'

          _"I know that I can't hurt you, but your charge...is another story." His smile dropped instantly, he quickly turned Bakura around and pinned him to the wall._

_          "Lay a finger on Yugi and I'll make you wish you were still buried 10 feet under." _

_          "Then tell me what you know, after all, so many accidents can happen at night." Yami released him, deciding to tell him what Yugi had told him. he didn't want to risk his charge's safety, even though Bakura probably wouldn't do anything to Yugi, he had to be sure._

          'Then again...now that Yugi is healed...what does he really need me for? Maybe that's why Yanazi called Harlon and Kelina back, because there isn't much that they need to do here.' He looked at Yugi, then retracted his hand. He got up, placed the chair back to its spot by the desk and gazed at the puzzle. 'What does he need me for now? Is Bakura right?'

          _"...just know that there's a difference between protecting, and being over protective." _

          'But...if he is...no. The day Bakura is right is the day the world will end.' He looked back to Yugi one more time, then sighed, and vanished into the puzzle. 

~*~*~*~*~

SS-Yes I'm ending it there. But don't worry! I found new inspiration for this fic. so everything will keep running!

Tym-That means that chapters should be coming out quicker...SHOULD.

SS-Uh huh, so plz r/r! And 'bout Yami's lil situation...it'll be resolved soon, so don't worry about him!

Tym-Iono SS, you're taking a risk with the Yami thing...

SS-It's my fic! He'll be fine! *whispers* I think....

Tym-And no offense to Bakura fans...we just needed a statement to give Yami a lil more confidence.

SS-Right, so I guess I'll cya all later! Sweet Dweams!

Tym-Ashes minna-san!


	5. Etch a sketch a dream

SS-Heys and hellos minna-san! Lookie! I'm getting chapters out quicker! 

Tym-Yes it's a miracle…

SS-It doesn't sound like much, but getting the chapter started is the hardest part, once I've gotten a few paragraphs down, it's cake.

Tym-Um…good idea! *runs out to eat the cake on the counter*

SS-Somebody's gonna have a huge tummy ache later.

&**words to readers**&

~Hm…not much to say…I suppose that's good, that way we can get this chapter started sooner! But as always, tkx to all you readers, love the comments/reviews!

Last Time 

~Lets see, Ryou finally started talking about the angel thing…that's good. Bakura told Yami his plan (You all remember that one) and their charge's heard…that's bad. Ryou won't talk to Bakura…that's really bad (For him anyway). Harlon and Kelina are gone…that's, well, it isn't good (For Yami having Kel gone is good). And Yami is doubting his bond with Yugi…that's really, really, bad (And that's an understatement).

SS-Too many bads…not good. My head hurts from all that bads, so let's get started! Oh yea, and I don't own YGO, just to remind all of you.

~*~*~*~*~

                                                                             Sent to Save Me

                                                                                  Chapter 5

****Yugi's room****

          Yugi began to stir as light streamed through his blinds. He pulled his blankets over his head, but his thin sheets blocked out only a small portion of the rays. He turned over, however, that did little since his bed was a twin and turning over doesn't put him out of range of the sun. He turned again, causing him to fall off, only this time, Yami wasn't there to catch him. Yugi met the carpet and woke up in one of his worser moods. 

          "Ouch…Yami I know that I'm not much of a morning person but did you have to let me fall?" When he received no answer, he got up and looked around as he rubbed his head. "Yami? Yami where are you?" The window opened and a small breeze came in, followed by Yami appearing by the desk. "Where were you?"

          "I was out, thinking. Did you need me for something?"

          "Uh…no, it was nothing." He wanted to say yes, but then realized that Yami did have other things to do besides waiting on him. He shouldn't have gotten mad. He looked at his clock, 10:30 am. If he was going to talk to Ryou…again…he mine as well get there as early as possible. "I'll go get ready, then I can talk to Ryou, ok?" His angel was staring out the window, spacing out…Yugi didn't like it…it wasn't like Yami at all. "Yami? Yami!"

He snapped out of it and turned to his charge.

          "What is it?" Yugi walked over to him and touched his forehead.

          "Are you feeling all right?"

          "Yes…why?" Yugi saw that Yami really thought nothing was wrong, so he figured that he'd ignore it for now, and think about it later. "Are you feeling ok Yugi?" The younger didn't answer, he just grabbed some clothes and walked to the bathroom. 'Bakura was right…Yugi doesn't need me anymore. At least…he doesn't act like he needs me anymore. Then again, the world hasn't ended yet, so there has to be another explanation.'

          Yugi was thinking the same thing as he changed…sorta. 'I wonder what's wrong with Yami. Why is he acting so weird? It's like he doesn't care anymore. I hope that's not it…maybe he's just confused…or is preoccupied with something else. Yea, that's got to be it.' He pulled a polo shirt over his head and opened the door, then walked back into his room and tossed his PJs onto the messy bed. They met each other's gaze for a moment. It was very familiar, yet so different. 'But what if that isn't it? What if there's more to this than I thought?'

          'He looks so distant, what happened to that child I found in need of help two or three weeks ago?' He sighed as Yugi broke the gaze and walked out without a word. 'Maybe it's just my world that's ending…'

****Ryou's room****

          Ryou had been awake since 8:30 am, and was currently drawing random pictures in his notebook while listening to the radio on his headphones. He was still doing his best to block out the world around him (Mainly Bakura) and keeping his hands busy at the same time. It was a nervous habit he got from his mother…and even though he never liked it, he appreciated it now. As long as he seemed engaged in some activity, Bakura wouldn't try to talk to him. And as long as he was nervous, his hands would find some work to do. It was an endless cycle, and ironic enough, it was caused by Bakura's presence. 

          'Hm…I'm running out of things to draw…but I can't stop, otherwise Bakura would try to talk to me. How long can I keep doing this?!' *ring ring* 'Huh?' His headphones were thick, but he could still make out some noises…including the ringing of the phone near him. He removed his head phones and placed them around his neck while he answered the phone. 

"Hello?"

          "Hi Ryou." Ryou was happy to hear Yugi, but at the same time…he wasn't.

          "Hello Yugi. Want to talk again?" He could hear a low chuckle from the other end and assumed that he was right.

          "Yea. How many times have I asked you to talk anyway?" Ryou leaned back into his chair. It was nice having a regular conversation for a change. 

          "I'm not too sure…2 or 3?" 

          "Well…want to make that 3 or 4?"

          "Sure. I have nothing better to do today, and it would be nice to get out of the house."

          "Ok. I'll meet you at…"

          "Not…at the park."

          "Ok. Um…how about you come over to my house then? My mom and dad left a while ago. They won't be home for a while so you can even stay for lunch."

          "Um hm. That sounds good. I'll be over in a few minutes."

          "Cool. See you then." He hung up and started putting his stuff away. He closed his notebook and shoved it into his drawer, pushed the pencil and eraser he was using there too, and placed his headphones on top of his stereo. As he walked out he paused at the doorway and looked over to his bed. The ring that held his guardian sat there lifelessly…the golden eye in the middle seemingly staring at him. He shook of the weird feeling he got and proceeded downstairs…leaving the object behind.

          As he continued down the stairs, he realized that he didn't hear his father in the kitchen. He glanced over and saw that there was a cup of hot coffee on the counter next to one of his dad's books. The keys to their Land Rover were also gone. 

'I guess dad went out to get something.' It looked like he had just left suddenly…it didn't worry him at first…until it hit him. He was alone. Or more precisely…all alone with his mother. A wave of panic shot through him as he made it to the bottom of the stairs. He didn't bother to look around, he just made his way to the door as quickly as his legs could take him. Unfortunately…he never made it to the door. 

"Where do you think you are going Ryou?!" He tensed…not bothering to look in the direction of the shrill voice. 

"…Out?" He soon regretted saying that. 

"You've already gone out too many times this week, and since when did you talk back to me you little…*smack*" The rest was fuzzy. She must have hit him hard before she finished the sentence because that was the last that Ryou heard for a few hours. 

Upon hearing the sudden cracking sound Bakura appeared from the ring and floated out the door. When he saw Ryou's mother slapping and hitting her son relentlessly anger surged through him. He waved his hand before her and she slumped to the floor. Then he made his way to the bottom of the stairs and stood over her. He rubbed his hands together and a few sparks started gathering…then they became a nice ball of electricity (Talk about static electricity). He held it above her and was about to throw it until he heard Ryou stirring from his position by the wall. Bakura looked over and sighed…he squashed the ball of electricity and just waved his hand over her…reciting a small spell while doing so. She then promptly vanished to her room. 

"No big loss. I'll heal Ryou first…then I'll deal with her." He walked over to his charge and looked at him. He was lying next to the wall like a rag doll…helpless and beaten badly. Bakura placed his hand over him and a good amount of white light surrounded the younger boy…healing most of his wounds. When the light vanished all that was left were a few scratches and one or two bruises. Then he picked him up and carried the unconscious Ryou back to his room and laid him on his bed gently. 

"Hm…he'll probably be out for an hour or so. Now what'll I do till then? That sleeping spell combined with the memory charm should keep his so called 'mother' asleep for a few hours so he'll be safe." Then a thought occurred to him. 'Where is his father?'

****In Yugi's house****

          "Where could Ryou be? What do you think is keeping him?" After coming to the conclusion that Yami didn't care enough anymore to answer him…he didn't expect him to reply. Yugi was sitting on his couch, looking out the window. It had been 20 minutes since he had called Ryou and now he was sure that something (Or someone most likely) had stopped him. He called a few minutes ago…but there was no answer from the other end. Even though he was still worried about his friend…his attention was divided. He was still thinking about Yami and why he had been acting so weird all of a sudden. Said angel was sitting on the other end of the couch…also lost in thought.

          'I bet Ryou's mother stopped him…and that Bakura is with him right now. I'm sure Yugi knows that too…so why isn't he saying anything about it? Does he want me to bring it up?' A week ago, or even two days ago those two would be locked in a conversation about the situation…or would at least be discussing a plan on what to do about it. Who'd have thought that they would be sitting a part in silence right now? 

          Yugi really didn't like the situation…both of them. He wanted to solve them, but which one first? On one hand Ryou was one of his best friends, he needed his help and probably right now. On the other hand, Yami was his guardian, he couldn't expect him to do anything (Let alone proceed to help Ryou) if there was tension between them. 

          'What do I do? What problem do I solve first? Ryou may need me right now; however, how much good can I do without Yami's help? Argh…what do I do? Even Kelina and Harlon are gone…there's no one I can talk to!' Even though Yami had other things on his mind, he could still sense Yugi, and how he was feeling overloaded with all his thoughts. He quietly scooted next to Yugi and put his hand on his shoulder, alarming the youth. 

          "Yugi? What's wrong?" Yugi was slightly shocked that Yami wasn't so wrapped up in his own thoughts to sense his inner struggle. He turned slightly to face his angel before replying.

          "I'm fine. I'm just a little dizzy."

          "Why?" He placed his hand against Yugi's forehead to see if he had a fever. "Do you feel sick?" This only added more confusion to Yugi's mind. 

          'He certainly changed…I thought he was too busy with his own problems to act like this. What's going on?' 

          "Yugi?!" He snapped his head up, then realized that he hadn't answered Yami's question yet. "Are you all right?" Yugi nodded slightly.

          "Yea…Yami. Yes, I'm fine." Yami sighed in relief, with all the other things going on in his mind right now he forgot about all the things that Bakura had said. But that was only for a moment. He was about to hug him and make sure he felt safe, but drew back and started for his side of the couch again. Then a small hand grabbed his arm, stopping him from reaching his destination. "Yami?"

          "Yes? What is it Yugi?" He wasn't quite sure how to phrase this…he didn't want to offend him, but he also had to get his message across.

          "Do you…um…do you…"

          "Do I what?"

          "Well…don't take this the wrong way or anything, but do you…not like being my guardian anymore?" Yami blinked…then again. He was completely taken aback by his charge's question. 

          'He thinks that I don't care about him anymore? He's the most important thing to me. Ugh. And I thought that he didn't need me anymore…man how stupid I was to think for a second that Bakura was right!?!' While he was blaming himself for thinking the way he had, Yugi took his silence the wrong way, and thought Yami was trying to think of a nice way of saying yes. 

          'Oh great, I guess he really doesn't like watching over me anymore. Hm…I never should have asked.' He turned back to the window, trying to hold back his tears. But he couldn't, tears started welling up in his eyes and sniffles were escaping his mouth. Yami heard his almost silent cries and realized that he must have given him the wrong impression. 

          'Man…how many times can I be stupid in one day?!?! He probably thinks I'm trying to tell him yes nicely.' He hurried over to Yugi and embraced him the way he wanted to before. A hug that would make him feel safe and cared for. "Yugi? Yugi you misunderstood. I love being your guardian, I don't do it because I have to, I do it because I care about you and want to make sure that you aren't hurt. Please, stop crying." Those words stifled Yugi's sniffles and shocked him a lil. He tensed, but started to realize that he really meant it. "Yugi? What's wrong?" Yugi relaxed when Yami gently rubbed his back, and smiled.

          "Nothing's wrong…I'm sorry I asked that question…I just wasn't sure with the way you've been acting lately." Yami nodded, of course he understood. He had to admit, he was distracted a lot lately, and it must have worried Yugi a lot. 

          "There's no need to be sorry, my attention was divided today. There was a lot on my mind, I should have told you instead of keeping you in the dark." Yugi looked up at him, smiling again. 

          "Just because you're my angel, doesn't mean you have to hold everything in. Tell me if there's something on your mind. I want to help you if I can." Seeing a smile on his face made Yami forget all his anger he held against Bakura…for now. 

          "Ok, I promise to tell you if anything's wrong." Yugi placed his head against Yami's shoulder again, while Yami wrapped his arms around him protectively. Yugi sighed (A happy sigh), relieved that one of his problems was solved. Now all he had to do was figure out what to do about Ryou…easier said than done.

****Back in Ryou's room****

          While Yugi and Yami were mending their friendship, Ryou's father had returned to find both his son and wife fast asleep. He wondered why both were so tired, but decided to ask later. He just returned to his book and (cold) coffee. 

          Bakura was sitting in Ryou's chair, waiting for his charge to wake, and thinking of what to say to him when he did come to. Ideas came and gone…but none of them really seemed like good ones. He quickly gave up on that and turned his attention to the notebook that was sticking out of the drawer of Ryou's desk. Curiosity got the better of him, so he took it out and began thumbing through the pages. 

          He discovered that Ryou had some talent, and was slightly impressed by his skill. Then he came to the picture that Ryou was working on this morning. Even though it was just a sketch, it was very good; although, it hit him a lil hard. On one side of the notebook was a drawing of Yugi walking down the street with a smile on his face. Above him was a lighter image of Yami, watching over him as he continued down the sidewalk. On the other side of the notebook was a picture of Ryou, also walking down the street. Only he was looking down, and no smile graced his lips. Then Bakura saw that there was nothing above him except the sky. The place where he should be looking after him was replaced with clouds. 

          His first thought was that he hadn't finished it…then he saw the date scribbled down in the bottom right hand corner, indicating that he had completed the drawing (A/N: I do that too so that I can remember when I finished a drawing). His second thought was why should he care about this? Did it matter that Ryou felt that he didn't care about him the way Yami did about Yugi? Why should it matter?

          'Why am I even mulling over this? It means nothing…it's just something he was doing to pass the time.' He quickly shut the notebook and shoved it back into the drawer. 'So what if he thinks I don't care? I'm not going to go soft like Yami just because of some doodle in a book.' He sat back down and sighed. 'Then again…how can I complete my mission if he doesn't even think I care? Wait…I care?! Well, yes…only enough to make him trust me. No…not even…ARGH! Why is this so confusing!?!?! I should ask someone about this, but I'm not going to talk to Yami again. Or his lil friends. Hm…but who does that leave? Nobody.' He sighed in frustration and closed his eyes, trying to think of some other solution to his problems. 

          He stayed that way for a few moments, then a cold gust of wind blew in through the crack of the window. A familiar voice made him snap his head up.

          "Hello Bakura. Kill anybody lately?" Bakura was used to the insults, and would usually retaliate with something equally low, but he didn't really feel like it this time. 

          "What do you want now Yami? Or have you just come to add more annoyance and problems to my life?" Stunned by the lack of an insult, Yami figured something was wrong.

          "What's wrong Bakura? Run out of insults? Lost your touch? Or is something actually the matter?" He sighed.

          "The last one I suppose. But it's nothing that concerns you." At this point, Bakura was still sitting in the chair, arms crossed over the top with his head resting on top of them. He turned his head up a little to say the next part of his response. "Speaking of what concerns you, shouldn't you be with lil Yugi? Or have you actually taken my advice and left him to his own responsibilities?" Yami leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, that way he could keep an eye on both Bakura and the unconscious Ryou. 

          "Bakura, I realized that whatever advice you have about charges is absolute bs. I'm still surprised that I believed it for even a second." He turned his head towards Bakura. "True, I was being a little over protective of Yugi-"

"A _little_?"

"Ahem…a little over protective, but he didn't mind. Actually, he likes the fact that I care a great deal for him. So maybe you should start rethinking your ideas because Yugi and I like the way our friendship is going and wouldn't prefer it any other way." Bakura only replied with a 'Hmph' and placed his head on his arms once again.

          "Yami, I don't give a $*** about your relationship with your charge…so you don't have to keep hammering on about it." Yami was really starting to worry about his 'friend'. Sure, he could be cold and even icy at times, but it was all a part of their ongoing game of insulting each other. Neither really took the other's comments seriously, because they both knew it was all in good fun, and they would both return to normal in a few minutes. Even though their little games would last longer than this one had, Yami had a feeling that Bakura wasn't playing the game right now. 

          "Why are you acting this way Bakura? You know that I was only joking before, right?"

          "Yami I…never mind. Just go away." That wasn't good enough for him though.

          "Bakura, what_is_wrong? And don't you dare stay silent. I won't leave until you tell me what's wrong." Bakura lifted his head to him again.

          "Why is it that you care anyway? I assumed that after our little 'conversation' you would be too wrapped up with your charge to talk to me. Actually, I thought that you didn't give a d*** about me or my problems anymore."

          "Well, I don't. But Yugi was worried about Ryou, especially when he didn't show up to talk with Yugi when he was supposed to. I didn't want him to leave so I came here to check on the situation for him." Bakura just rested his head once more, ignoring the other angel. Yami sighed, he wasn't going to get anywhere at this rate. "So, why are you in a much fouler mood than usual? What has caused you to be this sour?"

          "Again, why do you care?"

          "Well, when I find out what made you this way, I can use it against you whenever I get bored." 

          "Heh…" Yami stopped leaning on the wall and walked over to Bakura, towering over him. 

          "Listen, either you tell me what's wrong now…or I'll wake Ryou and ask him myself." Bakura grabbed the corner of his shirt, stopping him from moving towards his charge. 

          "Fine, fine, you want to know?!" Yami smiled in victory.

          "Yes, in fact I do."

          "All right." Bakura reached over to the desk drawer, pulled out Ryou's notebook, and tossed it at his 'friend's' feet. "There you go." Yami reluctantly picked it up, staring at it questionably. 

          "You're not insulting me because of a notebook?" 

          "You said you wanted to know, and you got your answer." Yami turned it around, looking for something special about it, but found nothing. So he sighed and opened it, flipping through the pages. After 6 or 7 pages he managed to figure out 2 things, 1) They were drawn by Ryou. 2) He had lots of talent. Yami couldn't see how a few sketches and pictures could upset Bakura. Was he jealous? No, he wasn't the type to get green-eyed over something like drawing. Then what was it? 

He kind of answered himself. When he made it to the last page, he wound up staring at himself. There he was, watching over Yugi (Or part of him…it's mostly his head and phases out near the body like a shadow) like he normally would. Yami smiled, Ryou really got the features down. It seemed so realistic for a sketch. Was this what Bakura was angry about? No…maybe it was the picture adjacent to it. The one of Ryou, walking alone with nothing but the clouds above him. 

That had to be it. The only question was, why? Why would this upset his 'friend'? "Is this what made you confine to that chair? A sketch that Ryou made?" He didn't reply, so Yami took that as a yes. "So what? Are you…jealous or something?" Bakura looked over at him.

"Hmph, of course not. Why would I be?"

"You tell me." Silence. Yami was really getting impatient now. He held up the notebook and shoved it in the other angel's face. "Bakura, if you don't tell me what this means to you I can't help." More silence, Yami was wondering how much more he could take of this. 

"…Why do you want to help me?"

"…What?"

"Well, why?" What should he say? 

"Because if I don't help you…you'll never help Ryou."

"Hmph. So you're just doing this to make me do something useful?"

"Argh…Bakura you're the one who wanted a charge! It's your duty to keep him safe and happy, and sitting here certainly isn't doing that!" Bakura got up and walked over to meet Yami. 

"Listen, I'm not going to have the same conversation with you again. First, I'm going to tell you my idea, then you'll criticize it, and will argue until one of us leaves." He turned around and went up to the open window. "And I certainly don't want to go through that again." 

Yami was running out of ideas. Yugi wanted him to help Ryou, but the only person who can do that is Bakura. He won't do anything because of that sketch, and Ryou is still in the danger zone. His job is to make sure that Yugi is happy, and he won't be happy until his friend is safe. So technically, he was failing his job because Bakura was ignoring his…this sucked. 

Yami turned away from him to face the sleeping Ryou. He smiled a little, even with everything that's been going on, he seemed to be content. 

'I wonder what he's dreaming about.' 

*Dream*

          Ryou was walking down the street. It was very cloudy and it looked as if rain was going to fall if given the opportunity. Small bits of laughter caught his ears, so he looked across the street to find the source. It was Yugi. He was smiling, and apparently happy. The sky must have noticed his joy as his side of the block was illuminated with streams of sunshine. Suddenly he was lifted up…by who? Ryou glanced up…it was his angel, Yami. Ryou stopped to watch. Slowly, ever so slowly, Yugi floated higher, safely in the arms of his seraph. Soon he disappeared, and not long after, so did the streams of light. He was left in the dark again, all alone. 

          Ryou sniffled, then continued walking. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew that he had to keep going. After a few more feet, he was mysteriously out of the city, and was now walking down a thin gravel path. It led him to a small clearing near a lake, so peaceful and serene…he wanted to stay there forever. Then the dark clouds that have been following him lifted, replaced by clear skies and a gently breeze. He took it all in slowly before remembering what happened to Yugi when the sunshine washed over him a few minutes ago. Ryou turned quickly and gasped slightly. He was right, in front of him was his angel…Bakura. His face was emotionless, yet held some meaning he couldn't explain. The younger reached out to him, but was stopped when the other stepped back. Ryou was confused, why was he backing away from him? A small smile appeared on the angel's face, then he blinked and slowly disappeared. 

          The charge didn't move. He just stood there, waiting for him to return. He didn't; however, someone else did…his mother. He wanted to step away, to run, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he ran to her and hugged her. She returned the embrace, this felt right. It wasn't the cold, almost heartless woman he had become accustomed to. This was the woman that loved him, the one who cared for him, the one he loved. 

          Back by the lake's edge stood a figure in white. He smiled, looked down, then up into the endless blue. 

"This is right. This is the way it's supposed to be." Hearing the familiar voice, Ryou quickly broke the hug and turned around.

"Bakura?"  His angel didn't hear him, his words floated through the wind, he was gone. He walked up to the lake and looked around, but no one else was there. Ryou looked down and a small smile graced his lips. Lying by his feet was the familiar golden ring. He bent down and picked it up, a small tear appeared. He felt his mom put her hand on his shoulder, then everything went black. The lake and the scenery disappeared as darkness surrounded everything. 

*End Dream*

~*~*~*~*~

SS-Few…well, that's all. My hands are getting tired. 

Tym-It's ok, that was a long chapter anywayz. 

SS-Good. But the next chapter might come out quicker because I'm on…SPRING BREAK!!!!! *falls back onto her bed…with sleepy sheep on them*

Tym-Yea…so she'll rest up while I close up. That's all! Ashes everyone! (Hey, that was easy)

SS-Uh huh, Sweet Dweams minna-san…I know I will. 

Tym-Oh…and please review! SS hasn't been getting many lately and she's feeling sad. =( But don't worry, SS isn't one of those authoresses that won't continue because no one reviews…she'll finish the story because she wants to, and because there are some people out there who like it. But it would be nice if she could read your comments more often…*yawn* Anywayz… better go-*tummy grumbles*…uh...ASHES!!! *dashes out*


	6. A new idea

Tym-Oh my goodness…I'm surprised if anyone is still out there reading this bunch of-

SS-All right Tym, enough of that. A thousand sorries…I mean…how long has it been? 3 months? 

Tym**- **4 months and 14 days to be exact.

SS-Thanks a lot Tym. I think I broke the non-update record. I'm going to get this going before everyone leaves.

Last Time 

~Truth be told, I kind of forgot what happened last time. But to the best of my knowledge, Yami and Yugi are on good grounds, Bakura's upset about one thing or another, and Ryou had this really weird dream.

Tym-Like that's going to help anyone. Oh…and she doesn't own YGO, if she did, none of us would ever see a new episode.

SS-…Shut up. I won't bore you all with my explanation, maybe after the chapter, if this even qualifies as a chapter.

~*~*~*~*~

                                                                                      Sent to Save Me

                                                                                     Chapter 6 (finally)

****Ryou's room****

          After some time, Ryou finally woke from his weird dream. As he looked up, he saw a lamentable Bakura sitting in his chair, and a slightly angry Yami near him. Upon seeing the youth awaken, Yami took this as his cue to leave. "If you don't make your move soon, I'll see to it that your wings are clipped." Ryou blinked. What was Yami talking about? Bakura simply looked at him and responded in a quiet, solemn voice. 

          "I have a plan." Ryou already didn't like the sound of that, especially after remembering what his other plan was. "But you can not interfere, Yami. Give me one week, and I promise Ryou will be safe, his mother will be better, and I will be out of your multi-colored hair forever." While Yami was contemplating the sincerity and probability of what his 'friend' had just said, Ryou was in shock.

          'Is he serious?! In one week I'll be fine, my mom will be fine and he'll be gone?! Is that possible?! And without Yami's help?!! It doesn't make any sense to me, maybe I'm still dreaming, or I misunderstood the entire thing.'

          'Hm…could Bakura be thinking of doing what I thought of? It's risky, but I suppose it could work, but without help? None at all?! Or does he mean just no help from me. Well, at least he's finally taking this seriously. I guess I could let him try. He just better not mess up.'

          "Well?"

          "All right. One week, but that's all. And remember, no killing."

          "I already told you that no matter how much I want to…I won't kill anyone." Yami nodded.

          "Fine. I'll see you in one week. And you better not screw this up." With that, he vanished, leaving Bakura along with his charge. 

          "Um…" Before he could finish, the angel was up and over at the boy's side.

          "Listen Ryou and listen very carefully because I don't have time to repeat myself." The young boy turned to face him, ready to hear what he had to say. "As much as I hate to admit it, Yami was right. I'm not really cut out for this guardian bit and quite frankly; I'm not enjoying it. However, I can't get up and leave because I took this responsibility and the least I could do for you is get your life back on track." Ryou was pulling up a blank. Bakura never talked to him like this before; actually, it was kind of scary that he was being serious about anything other than killing. "The next week is going to be a hard one, it'll be especially difficult on you my little charge and I'm apologizing in advance for it, but it's the only way that I can think of (other than death) to get you to safety."

          "I don't under-"

          "I said to listen!" He instantly shut his mouth and leaned against his bedpost. The older boy sighed and put his hand on the young one's bruised shoulder. "This is important Ryou, and you need to hear it so that you will understand. Now, I know that having me apart of your life hasn't been the best, and the beatings your mother gives you doesn't make it any better. So as my last…gift to you…I will get rid of both."

          "What?!"

          "Sh…you don't have to worry. I promise you that by the end of this week, you will be safe, your mother will not harm you anymore, and I will be gone. All you have to do is stay here, wait, and listen to what I tell you, ok?" How do you answer that? Ryou thought about it. Could he really be telling the truth? Can he make his mother stop abusing him? That would be great, but at what price? Being confined to his room for a week? That's easy. Listening to Bakura's instructions? That'll be cake. Losing him for good? That's…that is…terrible. 

          'What? Terrible? He's been terrible! What kind of guardian is he?! No…that's not true, he has kept you safe since he came here. The beatings? Well, almost all the cuts and bruises are gone, and the pain that once surged through my body has disappeared. Sure, he wanted to kill my mom, but now he's creating a plan to go around that because I didn't want that to happen. Hm…everything cancels out…right? He did some good, and some bad, so my feelings for him are…are…not neutral. 

          'I don't want him to go. So what if he's made mistakes, he just said that he doesn't really like this job anyway. And how can you do your best at something you don't like? When we were in Egypt we had a good time, ok, we got lost in a tomb and almost got locked in, but all in all, we had fun. It was fun, and we could spend more time like that once this whole problem is solved. He doesn't have to leave, I don't want him to…he can't.'

          "Ryou!" 

          "Huh?" After realizing that he had been thinking for a long time, he looked into his angel's brown eyes intently. 'If he can really do this, he doesn't have to go, he shouldn't have to. If he can do this, he deserves to stay, after all, he would have taken great care of me by putting me out of harm's way…right?'

          "Do you understand?" 

          "…Yes. I-I understand. Uh…" If he didn't tell him now, then he'll leave for sure. "Uh…Baku-"

          "Good. Then I'll begin. I haven't got a moment to lose." Before Ryou could stop him and tell him what he wanted to say, the angel had said a few words that Ryou didn't understand then snapped his fingers. Feeling a wave a tiredness sweep over him, Ryou fell asleep again. Then Bakura waved his hand across his face, instantly his clothes changed to what his charge wore. He would have changed his appearance, but since he looked like Ryou feature for feature, he figured there was no need. Even the things about them that weren't the same weren't too easy to notice, and besides, if everything goes according to plan, his mother won't notice the difference anyway.

           He walked out into the hallway, closing the door firmly behind him. He couldn't have his mother see the real Ryou; otherwise he'll be in more trouble than he bargained for. As he approached the room that held his 'mother', he looked around the hall for a good place to set his trap. The shelf that held pictures of the family seemed like his best bet, so with a snap, a camcorder appeared just behind the frame of the picture on the edge of the ledge. The red light blinked, and then began to glow steadily, signaling Bakura to begin. He took a deep breath, and knocked rather loudly against the door. 

          "Mother…mother, are you awake?" It sickened him to act so courteous to the she-devil that his charge called mom, but for the first phase of his plan to go well, he had to. He knocked again. "Mother! Are you all right?" With the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching, the angel put on his most innocent face and braced himself. The door swung back, and the very irritated woman on the other side made no hesitation in showing her emotion. Her fist barely contacted with Bakura's left cheek, but he made the effort to fall back for the camera. 

          "What do you think you're doing?! How many times have I told you to stay in your room you little-"

          "How dare you speak to me like-" He shut his mouth before he had a chance to finish his sentence. 'D***, I forgot.'

          "What…did you say?" Racking his brains for something his hikari would say, he spoke what came to mind.

          "I-I-I was just going to say…how dare you…how-"

          "Spit it out brat!"

          "Argh…how dare you speak to me in such a loud tone…mother…" Another slap, this one was harder. Bakura figured that she had regained her senses…but not completely, otherwise she might have noticed the camera on the shelf. 

          "A piece of filth like you doesn't have any right to raise his voice to his own mother!" A kick to his side, barely missing Bakura's stomach, and a foot stomp that would have flattened his face had he not have rolled out of the way in time ended the little encounter. "If I want to speak in that tone I will! Especially if it'll get into your thick head that you are nothing but a s*** of a son who should mind his manners!" Using all the self-control he had, Bakura kept his mouth shut and closed his eyes. 

          'No killing, no killing, no killing…' Faking a look of fright, the angel laid there, shaking, though Ryou's mother didn't know it was from anger not fear. So she returned to her room, shutting the door with a bang. When the coast was clear, he snapped his fingers, turning off the recorder. Then he slammed his fists onto the floor and shot up, a look of pure rage locked on his face.

          'That d*** wretch…she's just lucky Ryou loves her.' Shaking his head he grabbed his side and proceeded with the second part of phase one. He got up slowly and headed back for his charge's room, stopping when he passed the top of the staircase. Adjacent to it was a small table with a vase full of flowers, tapping it lightly; it fell and crashed on the first floor. 'If everything else hasn't caught his attention yet, that sure will.' He waited there for a few seconds until he heard footsteps coming.

(Just a minute or two earlier)

          Ryou's father had fallen asleep (Despite the coffee) on the couch, with his book off to the side. Things were relatively peaceful too, until he heard a crash. Bolting up he looked around for the source of the commotion, which was soon followed by another bang. 

"What is going on?" He got up and headed for the kitchen, the cold cup of coffee in hand. "Ryou?" When he didn't hear a response he shrugged his shoulders and walked back to the couch. When he was barely half way there the blue vase he had bought last month came crashing down in front of him, practically scaring him out of his skin.

"Gya!" After a few seconds he caught his breath and looked up. Not seeing anyone, he quickly climbed the stairs and glanced down the hallway. There was nothing on his left, but to the right, he noticed that the door closing. "Ryou?" He walked up to the door and knocked lightly. "Ryou? Are you ok?"

Inside, Bakura was dusting himself off, but smiled when he heard the man calling. Sounding as innocent as possible he replied. "I'm just fine father."

"Are you sure? I saw the broken vase, what happened?" Making sure that his charge was still asleep he continued the conversation.

"I'm sure. I accidentally knocked it over. I'm sorry."

"It's all right. I'll clean it up." He was about to ask about the other crashes he had heard, but dismissed them for now. "Just be careful next time."

"I will. Sorry." Hearing the footsteps disappear, Bakura smirked and sat on the bed. "Well that was much easier than I originally thought. I bet I can finish this in less then a week if I plot my moves more carefully." Ryou shifted a little in his sleep, which caught the angel's attention. Grabbing the blanket on the edge of the bed he draped it over him. "Soon it'll all be over, and everything will be as it was." He starred out the window, sighing. "Yes, it's all for the best."

~*~

          When Yami left, Yugi had retreated to his room. He sighed, Yami had been gone for a long time, and now he was worried. How long did it take to check up on someone? A light gust of wind brushed around his face and the young boy quickly turned to see his angel standing by the window.

          "Yami!" He got up and went over to him. "So how is he? Is he ok? Nothing's wrong with him right?"

          "Calm down Yugi, and don't worry, Ryou's fine. For now."

          "Oh that's good-wait…what do you mean for now? What's going on?"  

          "Don't worry Yugi."

          "How can I when you come in and tell me that Ryou's only safe for now?" Hushing the boy with his finger he motioned him to sit while he explained.

          "Listen, everything's going to be…all right. Bakura has a plan, which doesn't involve killing, and is trying to carry it out. If it goes well, Ryou's mother will be fine, and he'll leave."

          "Who? Bakura?" Yami nodded. "But I thought he was Ryou's guardian like you're mine."

          "He is, but he just figured out that he's not cut out for it. So after he helps him out, he'll go back."

          "Can he do that? Just get up and leave I mean?" Yami sat on a chair across from him, nodding his head slightly.

          "Well, under certain circumstances, yes he can."  
          "But how?"

          "Just like any other job, if can't cooperate with your co-workers or don't like the work, you are allowed to leave."

          "Yami this isn't any job…this is taking care of someone. A mother can't just abandon her child because she doesn't like him." After thinking about what he just said he wished he hadn't said it. It wasn't true; sometimes…parents dislike their child for one reason or another and give up on them. Or have to give them up for other reasons.

          "I know it doesn't seem right, but Bakura can leave if he can't get along with Ryou. It's not something we can help."

          "I wish we could."

          "I feel the same way; however, Bakura asked me not to interfere this time."

          "You can't help him at all?" The angel nodded. "Then how in the world is he going to pull this off? I don't mean to be rude, but I think he's going to need someone to help him out."

          "Don't underestimate him Yugi, when we were young he was actually quite resourceful. I don't think Kelina could pull this off."

          "Really? Sorry, I'm just worried about Ryou."

          "He'll be fine. If things get out of hand I promise to step in." The younger smiled.

          "Ok."

~*~

          After an hour or so, Ryou began to stir; taking a deep breath he blinked a few times and then got up. Holding his head he looked around, Bakura was nowhere to be found.

          'Did he leave? Is he doing another part of his plan?' His suspicions were answered when the ring around his neck glowed and said angel came out, sitting next to him on the bed. "Bakura…"

          "Finally decided to wake up did you?"

          "Huh? Oh, how long was I out?" He glanced at the clock on the table it read 5:34. 

          "About an hour or so."

          "Oh…" Ryou was dying to know how his little plan was going…and about what would happen when it was over. Was he really going to leave him? There was only one way to find out. "Um…"

          "If you don't need me," Ryou turned to him. "I'm going to return to the ring." 

          "Well…"

          "You aren't hurt are you? I doubt you could have injured yourself in your sleep."

          "No, no I didn't. It's just…"

          "What then?" Catching the younger boy's gaze, Bakura noticed something in his eyes. He couldn't tell what it was it was something different. Something he hadn't seen in a long while.

          "I was just wondering, after you finish your…plan…then what?" He blinked.

          "Then I will leave. If all goes well I will leave like I said earlier. Remember?"

          "I remember, but do you have to?" The angel wasn't expecting that. 

          'What does he mean by that? Does he actually want me to stay? After everything that's happened? All that I put him through?' 

"You're…you are my guardian right? So, does that mean that you have to leave?" Bakura turned away from him.

"Are you-" He was cut short when someone knocked on the door. He vanished back into the ring as Ryou sighed. 

"Yes?"

"Ryou can you help me get dinner ready? Your mother isn't feeling too well so I need you help." The boy fingered the ring around his neck. 

"All right father. I'll be there in a second." He got up and tucked the item under his shirt, which was unusually warm against his skin. 'Just when I was about to get some answers…I wonder what he was going to say? I'd ask him now, but then I'd be distracted, and the last thing I need is to mess up dinner.' He closed the door behind him and descended the staircase, trying to take his mind off of the angel.

Inside his room, Bakura was just as confused. He was sitting on his bed, contemplating what the boy was asking him earlier.

_"I remember, but do you have to?" … "You're…you are my guardian right? So, does that mean that you have to leave?"_

          'Does he want me to stay? I could have sworn he hated me for what I was going to do. Maybe…no. Yami was right; I'm not cut out for this guardian shtick. It was a mistake, and the only reason I'm still here is to fix what I did. Once I get things back to the way they were before, the elders will get off my case and I can return to my cloud.'

          He fell back onto the soft covers and closed his eyes. 'After all, when his mother is back to normal, what will he need me for? Ryou doesn't seem like one to get injured often so I'd have nothing to do. We're better off without each other; it's just better this way.' With that argument settled he drifted to sleep, welcoming the dreams to come. 

                                                (Since I took an extremely long leave of absence…here's a little more.)

          Dinner was very quiet, especially since Ryou's mother didn't join them. He had asked his father about it, but he said that she was still tired and wasn't hungry. So they only cooked for two, which was just fine for him. 

          "Ryou."

          "Uh…yes father?"

          "I've been meaning to ask, are you all right?" Ryou put looked up from his dinner. "I noticed that you have been acting strangely ever since we came back from our little vacation. Is something the matter?"

          "Well…" What was he supposed to say? He couldn't tell him about Bakura or his mother's meetings with him either would result in a tremendous explosion of questions and arguments. But then, he couldn't say anything. Those were the only complications currently plaguing him, and he really didn't like lying to his father.

          "Is it because winter vacation is ending in a few days? You aren't looking forward to school are you?" What a break.

          "Yes, that's it. I have a book report and an essay due Monday and I don't really want to work." His dad smiled and continued with his meal.

          "That's part of school son. Like it or not, we all have things we have to do, even if we don't want to do them. I'm afraid it's life." He liked where this was going, maybe Ryou could ask his father for advice indirectly.

          "But how am I supposed to enjoy life when I have so many rivers to cross and obstacles to overcome?"

          "Well, that's where friends, family, and simple pleasures come in." The boy listened closely. "When things get really tough, you can always fall back on your friends and family. They're here to help you get through the tough times. And you mustn't forget those little surprises we get every now and then."

          "Serendipities."

          "Yes. You know Ryou, fate has an interesting way of showing you that you are important to the world, or at least to someone." He looked up at him. "Never forget that you maybe the reason someone gets up in the morning, or that your smile makes others happy. Everyone has a purpose son, including you."

          "How does that relate to Ba-I mean…school?"

          "You'll never find out who that person is or how you matter to someone unless you continue with life, and that includes school." Ryou gave a weak smile.

          "Just like how you have to wait until Christmas to open your gifts even though they're sitting right there under the tree, right?"

          "Precisely." He took a sip of water before finishing his sentence. "I hope that's helped you."

          "Yes, yes I think it has." He got up and carried his plate to the sink. "Thank you dad."

          "Anytime." When Ryou had cleared his dish and rinsed it off he went back to his room and straight to the computer. While it booted up he got out his binder and flipped through it, that's when Bakura came out.

          "You know, I didn't think you were seriously asking him about homework." His charge grabbed the mouse and clicked on one of the folders, opening to his own assignments. 

          "I know, but it reminded me that I have stuff to do. And I really don't want to put it off." The angel just shook his head as he sat on the bed.

          "You'll have plenty of time tomorrow; after all, you'll be in here most of the day."

          "How do you know-oh." It was then that he remembered that while Bakura carried out his plan, he had to stay in his room.

          "Just remembered, eh?"

          "Hn."

          "I hope that this is just a phase, I don't think I could stand you like this for much longer." Ryou laughed nervously, praying he would avoid what he had said earlier. He started typing, getting his mind off of it.

          "Don't worry about it, I'm ok."

          "Are you?" The clicking and clacking of the keys stopped momentarily.

          "Y-Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be? You're really helping me out, there's no reason for me not to be."

          "Um hm." The typing started up again with a low, almost inaudible sigh. Bakura heard it though and stayed out with him, making a few comments here and there. Ryou wasn't really paying attention; he was trying to concentrate on his essay, hoping to get it done quickly so that he could draw. However, the more he conversed with him, the longer it seem to take as he found himself deleting sentences and rewriting paragraphs when they went off topic. Soon an hour had passed, and he only had half of what he needed. Another hour and he still wasn't finished. The clacking stopped again and Bakura looked up.

          "Ryou?" He hadn't said anything to the youth in half an hour, knowing that he needed a little silence. The boy clicked the save button and pushed the keyboard in, the computer turning off in a few seconds. "Done?"

          "I…no. I don't think I can finish this tonight. I'll just do it tomorrow."

          "That's what I told you earlier."

          "I know, and no, I'm not forgetting." He stayed in his seat, his hand still on the mouse.

          "It's only 9:30 are you going to draw?" He didn't shake his head, but he didn't say anything either, Bakura got up. "Ryou?" The boy turned to face him and smiled.

          "I think…I think I'm going to go to sleep."

          "Already?"

          "Yea. I don't…feel too good." The angel touched his forehead, he felt fine to him. If he didn't have a fever or a cold he didn't need healing. 

          "You don't feel sick." No response. "Ryou?" He tried to move his hand only to find that his charge was leaning on it. "Ryou?!" He knelt down and held him by the shoulders. "Ryou!" 

          "Huh? B-Bakura?" He was surprised that the angel was concerned.

          "Yes, what's wrong?!"

"I don't know…I just don't feel too well…" Not waiting another second he picked the boy up and carried him to the bed. He then quickly got a wet towel and laid it on the boy's head. 

          "Argh…what's wrong with you Ryou…" He whispered before placing his hands over his chest, trying to heal him. The white light came, but left. Bakura had gotten the knack of healing already, so he knew that it wasn't working because the boy wasn't sick. "If you aren't ill then what is wrong?"

          "Mm…" He shifted, turning towards his guardian, the towel slipping off. "I'm not sick…"

          "Then what is it?" The boy closed his eyes for a few seconds before answering. His chocolate colored orbs met the angel's tanned ones.

          "I…I think…"

          "Yes?"

          "I think I've been starring at the computer for too long." Bakura slapped his forehead and sighed. "I shouldn't have been doing homework for two hours straight."

          "…Well I think every bloody teenager would say that." He took the towel and put it on the dresser. "Are you sure that's all?"

          "Um hm. I'm just tired…and a little dizzy…" He blinked twice before realizing something. 

          "What?"

          "Were you really worried about me?" Bakura suddenly realized how close he was sitting to him and backed up. 

          "Uh…"

          "You know, you aren't as bad at this angel stuff as you think. If you just work at it…maybe you'll get better. And…and then you won't have to…" He yawned. "You won't have to leave…" Before he could hear the older boy's response, Ryou fell asleep. Taking in what his charge had said Bakura stood up and turned to the window. 

          'He always has to fall asleep or leave when things are getting good. Now…just what did he mean by that?' 

~*~*~*~*~

SS-There we go. The infamous chapter 6 is complete.

Tym-Finally! Please tell me you'll hurry this story along now?

SS-I'm doing my best! I promised this chapter before the end of September didn't I?! Well, as you all know, I broke my ankle…3 more weeks in a cast, then one week in a brace. *sigh* So that's why I can't update a lot. The computer that has internet is downstairs, and you have no idea how hard it is to hobble down and up and down and up…yea…stairs are my new enemy. But I'm doing my best.

Tym-Don't worry, I'll keep her going with the stories…she won't have another 'leave of absence' again…or at least…not one that long.

SS-And I don't know if anyone noticed, but my writing style has changed slightly. I wrote the first half of this two months ago (Sorry if the transition isn't smooth, I think you can tell where the change is), and just finished it today. Since then I've written a BeyBlade story and my grammar/structure is better…I think. 

Tym-Of course it is…

SS-And if I have time, I'll revise AWOM.

Tym-One story at a time please. You have enough trouble keeping up with one fic.

SS-I know. Anyways, please review minna-san! It'll make me feel better. Sweet Dweams!

Tym-You're lucky if they're still reading! Anywayz, Ashes!


	7. Chapter 7

SS-Hi everyone! OMG, I wish I could have gotten this out sooner! I wrote the first few paragraphs immediately after submitting chapter 6 but then I was bombarded with school work, projects and -___-;; I'm so sorry everyone! 

Tym-You better start before they leave…those of you who are still here anyway…

SS-Yes'um! And the thank you's are at the bottom so don't forget about those! There are some really, really nice people here! 

Tym-DISCLAIMER: She nor me own YGO…hehe…that first part rhymed. ^^. 

SS-  _;;

Last Time 

~Ok, I remember this time. Bakura started his new (No killing) plan. However, Ryou is still a little hesitant about the way it all ends – with Bakura leaving. He really wants him to stay? Let's see what happens!

~*~*~*~*~

                                                Sent to Save Me

                                                     Chapter 7

          Bakura stood there another minute, just gazing out the window before he snapped out of it and returned to the ring. He sat on his bed; thoughts racing through his mind a mile a minute. 'What is he trying to say?' Finding that that wasn't a good position he lied down and sighed into his pillow. 'Why is he so hard to understand? It's like a maze…one that I can't get out of…' He sat up, throwing the pillow across the room. 'And if I keep thinking about him how am I supposed to finish my plan?!' Again he fell onto his bed, absolutely frustrated. 

          'I could asked Yami…I'll bet he's experienced this excruciatingly nagging feeling before. But I said that I wouldn't need his help.' Bakura sat up, running a hand through his thick hair. 'Then again, if I don't, then I can't continue.' He weighed the options in his mind, trying to decide if his pride or his plan was more important. 'Well that's a stupid question.' Sighing he got up and left the ring, returning at once to Ryou's side. Making sure he was ok, and that his door was firmly locked, he disappeared again, this time ending up in Yugi's living room. It was fairly quiet except for the ticking of the wall clock. Before he could take a step towards Yugi's room, Kelina appeared in front of him. 

          "Hello there, sugar. It's a little late for visits, don't you think it?" He snorted.

          "What are you doing here?"

          "I see you've forgotten that I am also little Yugi's guardian angel…"

          "More like devil…"

          "Hush your mouth! Now answer me before I throw you out, what are you doing here?" Bakura crossed his arms.

          "I…need to speak with Yami." As Kelina brought her hand up to her mouth to quiet the laughter, Bakura covered his ears, her annoying laugh getting to him. 

          "You need to speak with Yam? You're joking right? I thought you were too full of yourself to care what he thinks." The white-haired angel rubbed his temple.

          "Well I'm not ok? Now are you going to let me speak with him or do I need to force you out of my way?" Kelina shook her head.

          "Sorry sugar, but I can't let you pass."

          "Oh come on, Yugi's asleep! The only thing Yami has to protect him from is a cold draft from the window! Now let me speak to him."

          "No can do hun, you'll just have to solve your problem on your own."

          "Hmph…" He walked towards the staircase. "Like I'm going to let you stop me." She tilted her head and looked at her nails, confident about his nearby failure.

          "I wouldn't do that sugar…"

          "Please, the day I listen to you is the day you drop that fake accent-ah!" The moment he tried to go past her he hit a strong force field, sending him backwards into the couch. "D-Damn it…" She brushed her nail and then tucked her hair behind her ear.

          "I told you so…and my accent isn't fake." Kelina walked over to him. "I'm one-hundred percent Southern, uh…give or take a percent. Now, like I said, you aren't going to get to him. And I wouldn't try phasing into his room or the puzzle either." She jumped onto the armrest, making herself comfortable. "If you do, you'll just end up on your rear again." Bakura growled and got up.

          "How did you do that? You don't have the power…" She waved her finger at him. 

          "Apparently I do now, so you'll do best to listen to me when I say, you aren't talking to Yami." She pretended to yawn. "Well, I've had enough of you for one night," Kelina hopped off her seat and brushed her clothes off briefly. Then she strolled over to the stairs, bypassing the force field with ease. "You better get back to your charge anyway. You're being horribly irresponsible. Good night hun!" She vanished, leaving a very frustrated angel behind.

          'That wretch…' Storming off he cursed under his breath. 'I never liked her anyway…' Before he left, he glanced up. 'It's worth a shot…' Closing his eyes he tried to phase into the little boy's room, only to be met by the field again. He landed promptly on his behind and groaned. 'Damn…'

          'Poor Bakura…' He got up with a sigh, hearing that irritating laughter ring through his head. 

          'I'll get you for this Yami…I don't know how, but I know that you're behind this. I know I said that I wouldn't need you help, but really…I can't even talk to you? Fine. I don't need your help or your two cent advice; I'll do this on my own.' With another huff, he vanished. Kelina smiled from her spot on the stairs as he watched the older boy leave. She blinked and a small walkie-talkie came to her hand. 

          "Harlon, he's coming your way." A bit of static traveled through before his response came.

          "Ok. I'm ready. I'll rally with you at the park in fifteen minutes." 

          "All right, take your time."

          "Over and out." She shook her head.

          "You don't have to be so technical sugar." His reply came sarcastically. 

          "You don't have to sugar me, _sugar_…" He added the last part with quickly, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Unfortunately for her, the line went dead before she could rant.  

~*~

          Harlon laughed as he pocketed his COM link. He glanced out the window, checking for any signs of Bakura's return. "Mine as well get ready…he might phase in. Running a hand through his soft, chestnut hair, he sighed and snapped his fingers, transforming himself to a fairly large white wolf. For effect he made sure his eyes were of a silverish yellow color to match that of the Silver Fang card. Before hand Harlon had brought out Ryou's deck and placed that card on top. He hadn't discussed this part of the plan with Kelina; he just added it in to give Bakura a little more to worry about.

          'Maybe if assumes that the Duel Monsters are some how related to all this he'll keep an eye on Ryou a little more.' He trotted over to Ryou's bedside. 'Either that or he'll try to kill me again. Oh well…I'll be long gone by then.' Shaking his head slightly and scratching behind his ear he gave a long yawn. 

          'How long does it take to get back here? Don't tell me he's flying…' Getting rather tired, Harlon laid his head and front paws on Ryou's bed, intent on getting a little rest until the angel returned. 'Some guardian…what will he do if Ryou really gets attacked at night? Even Yami wasn't this careless.' Feeling an odd wave pass through him, Harlon looked over to the window and smirked – it was Bakura.

          "Get the hell away from him!" He summoned a ball of energy and shot it at him. Jumping away with ease, Harlon landed on top of Ryou's bed and snarled menacingly. He summoned another orb and threatened to launch it. "I warn you demon, I will not miss this time." 

          'Are you that dense Bakura?' The angel-turned-wolf backed up, bringing out his claws and punctured them into the sheets close to the Ryou's body. The guardian narrowed his eyes.

          "Damn it…" Harlon stayed there, growling at him in victory. He knew what the wave was that he felt earlier. Bakura had silenced the room, making sure that Ryou wouldn't hear anything. However, could he feel his weight on the bed?

          'What will you do now? How will you protect your charge?' He questioned silently. 

          'How did that demon get in here? They don't normally come up to the surface for no reason. Ah…it looks familiar though. Have I faced this one before? Is that why it has come to Ryou? In any case, I can't attack, the wolf will just move and my strike will hit Ryou. Or will it?' A malicious grin replaced his angry expression. 'Maybe I can fool it.' He brought both of his hands behind him, making another energy ball in one, and a fake one in the other. 

          "All right demon…I don't know why you've chosen to attack me or my charge…" He brought out the hand with the fake orb. "All I know is that you won't make it out alive." Harlon didn't move. 

          'Sounds threatening, but can you carry out your threat without hurting your charge?'

          "Coming here was your first mistake!" He threw the sphere directly at Harlon's forehead, and as he predicted, the wolf jumped to the side. "And moving away was your last!" As quickly as he could, Bakura threw out the real one in his left hand, smashing into the wolf's stomach with full force.

          'Oh damn!' He cried out and vanished, as did the wave of silence blanketing the room. 

          "Hmph…return to hell where you belong." Scanning the room to make sure nothing else was there Bakura went to Ryou's side, making sure none of the claws had injured him. 'Good, you're safe. But what exactly are you safe from? Demons don't usually vanish in sparkles of light. The ones I've encountered typically burst into flame. Then I'd have to clean up the mess. But if it wasn't a demon…then what was it?' 

On the dresser beside the bed, a bit of white caught his eye. Turning to see what it was his eyes widened slightly…it was Ryou's deck. More importantly, the card face up on top of it was the Silver Fang. Bakura picked up the card and eyed it carefully. 'No wonder it looked familiar. How did it come alive though?' Grabbing the rest of the cards he skimmed through them; the next five or so were magic or trap cards…but the first monster card after those was the Koumori Dragon. 

'Don't tell me now I have to worry about Duel Monsters attacking Ryou. Argh…what the hell is going on?!' He slammed the deck back on the dresser, sat on the side of the boy's bed and sighed. 'This is going to make things a lot more difficult. If I have to worry about monsters appearing, then I can't leave him in his room anymore when I carry out my plan. And since Kelina put up that barrier I can't asked Yami to watch him.' Bakura ran a hand through his hair and cursed. "Damn it. Yami's assignment wasn't this hard."

He regretted saying that so loud. About a second later, Ryou began to stir, eventually turning to face the wall. The angel mentally kicked himself and jumped off the bed. 'Don't wake up…don't wake up…' The boy turned again, this time facing Bakura. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, a look of slight confusion crossed his sleepy features. 

"…Bakura?" He kept his composure and tried to get him back to sleep.

"Go back to sleep Ryou. It's still pretty late." His charge acted like he didn't hear him and sat up, looking over his room as if he was searching for something. 

"Did something happen just now Bakura?" The older boy shook his head and pushed him back down onto the bed. 

"You're just imagining things Ryou. Go back to sleep." Seeing that nothing was wrong, he nodded and grabbed his blankets…and then a frown replaced his smile. "What?" The younger boy ran his hand over the covers, stopping when he felt a few holes scattered over it.

"Wh-What happened to my blanket?" Ryou glanced up at him. "I thought you said nothing happened." Bakura quickly waved away his suspicion, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Those were there for a while. Must have been from the ring's sharp points." Ryou tilted his head.

"But it never tore my shirt…"

"I'll fix it in the morning, just go back to sleep." Ryou wanted to question him, seeing as Bakura was really on edge he suspected something wasn't right. However, he was grateful for the care and simply let go of the subject. 

"Well…ok…" Ryou yawned and closed his eyes as he sunk back into the safety of his covers, slowly drifting back into his slumber. When he was sure the boy was sleeping, Bakura walked over to the window and locked it. 

'I will figure this out. Nothing…not even a Duel Monster will stop me.' Glancing at his charge again, Bakura disappeared into the ring, intent on getting a little rest himself before tackling the next day's obstacles.

~*~ Meanwhile…

          'Ow, ow, ow…man that energy ball really hurt!' Harlon was nursing his wound as he waited for Kelina to show up. He was sitting in one of the chain swings, letting it sway back and forth. "Heh, who knew angels even could get injured?" A light breeze was the only indication that his partner had arrived…that and her distinct voice.

          "You actually got hit Harlon?" He turned his head a bit, acknowledging her presence. "How did you get hurt? You weren't supposed to talk to him you know." She stated as she crossed her arms.

          "I know, but after the way he acted I figured I should mix things up a bit." She eyed him suspiciously.

          "And just what do you mean by that, sugar? What did you do?" He grinned innocently.

          "I disguised myself as a Duel Monster and pretended to be attacking Ryou." Her eyes widened considerably, but that wasn't the end of his little surprise tale. "And then Bakura came in and 'destroyed' me, but I placed a whole bunch of traps and magic effects on his deck that'll activate on a daily basis. That way Bakura can't just abandon him the entire day like he did before." When he finished telling her his brilliant plan he grabbed the metal links holding the swing and pushed off the ground. "Isn't that smart?" 

          "…"

          "Uh, Kelina?" A blinding light met his eyes, some force hit his already injured side, and the next thing he knew, Harlon was lying ten feet from the swing set. He groaned and rolled over before sitting up. "Man…what was that for?" 

          *SLAP* "KELINA, WOULD YOU STOP THAT?!" She pulled her hand back for another assault, fire burning furiously in her normally playful eyes. 

          "What in the name of the stars were you thinking, you idiot!?" He rubbed his reddening cheek as he faced her with his puppy dog eyes.

          "Wha? What did I do wrong?" Covering her eyes with her hand, the female angel paced around him.

          "I can't believe you actually did that! Do you have any idea how this is going to affect our mission?! Do you even have an inkling of what THEY are gonna say when they see what you've done?! Honestly, I can't believe you really…uh!" Harlon scratched his head; he was clueless to say the least.

          "Look, I didn't hurt Ryou, I just put Bakura on guard."

          "That wasn't the plan, hun! We aren't callin' the shots here, they are!" She stopped walking and took a deep breath, calming herself. "Ok, maybe this isn't as bad as it looks." Kelina stared at him. "Please tell me there's a way to reverse the charm you put on his deck." Blinking, he backed away and smiled nervously. "Harlon!" He shot up and hid behind the slide.

          "I thought it was a good idea, honest! But don't worry, they only activate daily," She closed the gap between them, an energy ball forming in her hand. "Uh…one around ten, the next at three o'clock and the last around eleven." He continued to back up, which ultimately resulted in a circle. "If it's a magic or trap card, the normal effect will occur, but if it's a monster…well…it will attack Ryou…" She raised the ball and prepared to throw it at his head. "WAIT! See…see when a card activates, Bakura will sense it and will come before any damage is done! And that…that'll give _them_ time to fix his recording thingy and they can release his mother from-" He was cut off when he accidentally banged his head against the top of the stairs that led to the slide. "O-Ow…"

          "Hm, serves you right." She crushed the energy ball and went over to him. "To think you would actually do something that stupid without consulting me first. I'm insulted, sugar." She picked him up by his collar and flew up. "You had better hope they agree with your plan hun, otherwise it'll be clipped wings for you."

~*~*~

          Bright rays of sunlight furtively slipped into Ryou's bedroom window, cascading over his desk and bedspread. Considering the unusual night he had, one would expect him to have the pleasure of sleeping in for a little while longer; however, fate had other plans for him. 

          "Nn…" Light jumped from his covers and washed across his eyes, effectively causing him to stir. Pulling the sheets over his face, Ryou desperately tried to escape the blinding beams. He mumbled into his soft covers: "Go away…please go away…" And then, they did. It wasn't pitch black, but the intruding rays were gone for the most part. "Eh?" Suddenly, the covers were lifted from his body, exposing him to the cold. 

          "If you wanted the light to go away you could have closed the curtains before hand." Blinking, Ryou tilted his head up and met Bakura's slightly amused chocolate-colored eyes. He sat up and stretched, a small smile appearing on his lips.

          "But then I would have to get up, and the whole reason I hid was because I was still…still tired." He yawned and stretched, waking up the rest of his body as his angel looked out into the hall through the crack in his door. He gazed at him, what was the older boy doing? With another yawn, he voiced his concern. "Why did you wake me up so early, 'Kura?" (1) The guardian was shaken from his current job and quickly snapped his head over to Ryou. His eyes were narrowed, not out of anger, but out of curiosity and shock.

          "W-What did you call me?" Ryou straightened up and rubbed his eyes.

          "…Bakura." Giving him a slight nod, he closed the door and walked over to the ring, which was resting on the wooden dresser. "Why do you ask?" The older boy was about to answer, but closed his mouth and gave another response. 

          "No reason." His mind told him otherwise. 'He just woke up, he mumbled his words and only half my name came out; it's that simple.' He picked up the round object and tossed it to Ryou, who caught it with ease, careful to avoid the sharp points hanging from it. "I fixed your blanket, and you shouldn't worry about your shirts."

          "Uh, right. Thank you." 

          "Un." His gaze shifted to the boy's deck. "If you aren't going to use that then you should put it away." Ryou looked over to his deck.

          "Well, I was going to draw some of the pictures since I have to stay in here…" 

          "Fine." His reply had been quick and sharp. "Just make sure you put all the monster cards on the bottom when you're through. And lock it away afterwards." If his tone hadn't been so terse, Ryou would have asked why. But he kept the question to himself, answering with a tiny nod. 'Oh great…' Bakura strode over to him and held the ring with his hand. "It's very important Ryou." The younger boy timidly gazed up at him, a light blush coming to his cheeks when he felt his guardian's hand graze his. "You've trusted me this far, just do as I say a little longer all right?" Ryou's soft brown eyes moved from Bakura's eyes to his hand and then relaxed.

          "Ok." Not more than a second after his response, the angel disappeared into the ring, leaving Ryou on his own. 

~*~

          /Yugi! Yugi, wake up!/ The little charge merely turned over in his bed, clutching the blankets to his chest for extra warmth. /Yugi wake up! I need your help!/ 

          "Uhn…Y-Yami?" 

          /Yes, Yugi wake up!/ Taking a deep breath and sighing, the boy opened his eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the light. /Finally, I thought you'd never get up./ Shivering slightly, Yugi turned around, expecting to see his angel waiting for him. However, all he saw was his nightstand and the rest of the furniture in his cozy room. 

          "Yami?"

          /Yes?/ He sat up and scanned the room, scratching his head in confusion. Usually when Yami woke him, he'd be sitting in the chair by his desk tapping his foot.

          "Why aren't you out here?" He heard a sigh and saw a light glow come from his puzzle that sat on his nightstand. 

          /That's why I wanted you to wake up. Put on the puzzle./ Without hesitation he did as his guardian asked and slipped the object around his neck.

          "Ok, now what?" There was a pause, and then a sound echoed in his head. If Yugi had to guess, he's say it was an Egyptian curse. He was beginning to worry. "Yami, what are you doing?" A sigh came.

          /…I thought that putting on the puzzle would help, but it isn't helping./ 

          "It isn't helping what?"

          /I tried to get out to wake you as usual, but when I prepared to phase out…something stopped me./ Yugi's violet eyes widened.

          "What?"

          /Yugi, I'm trapped. Something is keeping me from leaving the puzzle./

~*~ Neh…I better keep going…

"I don't believe this…I mean…I didn't even know something like this could happen!" 

          /You think I knew about it? If I did I wouldn't have gone into the puzzle last night./ It had been a few minutes since Yami had told Yugi he was trapped and the boy was still deeply concerned. Not only was his guardian confined to the object, but it seems he couldn't contact Kelina or Harlon. Yugi's parents were still sleeping so he couldn't ask them, though, that would be a dead end. The only one he could ask was his grandfather, but he went to visit his brother who lived in another town. 

          "There's got to be someone else we could call." He said as he continued to walk around the room.

          /Like who?/ Sighing, the boy slumped onto his bed, which hadn't been made yet. 

          "So, you think we could ask Bakura?" 

          /…/ Yugi turned his head to the puzzle that rested on his pillow. 

          "Yami?" 

          /He's busy with his own assignment; we shouldn't bother him./ He crawled over to the fluffy cushion and propped himself up on his elbows. 

          "But then that leaves us with…no one." 

          /We'll figure something out Yugi; don't worry. It'll just take some time. Besides, it's not like you have much to do today anyway./ Some of the light faded from his charge's amethyst eyes as he nodded. 

          "Ok I guess so." 

~*~

          It's been a few hours since Bakura had left the ring and began setting up the next part of his plan. He left Ryou to his own devices, trusting that the boy could keep himself busy and quiet without having to put a sleeping spell on him like last time. 

          _"I have to start the next part now. So I want you to stay absolutely silent until I come back."_

_          "I know Bakura, I kind of figured out how this all works."_

_"Then I'll leave. Keep yourself occupied, and don't forget to put away your deck."_

True to his word, Ryou hadn't made so much as a peep since he left. He was at his desk, glancing from his sketchpad to the Duel Monster card in front of him. It was the Lady of Faith. He knew that he had promised, but what was the harm in keeping his deck out a bit longer? His headphones were on again, blocking out noise so that he wouldn't be distracted. 

          "…And that was 'Calling All Angels' by Train. Speaking of Train, stay tuned to find out how to win tickets to their next concert coming up on the 29th, brought to you by Star 101.3. It's ten o'clock and…" 

Ryou looked up from his sketchpad and pushed the button on his CD player, changing the station so that he wouldn't have to hear the commercials. 

          He then put his pencil down and slipped the Lady of Faith back into his deck. Shuffling through the cards, he decided to do a different one. He tilted his head as he came across the Headless Knight card. Nodding, Ryou took that one out and set it down on his desk. It would be a change of pace seeing as the monster was basically a suit of armor. 

          Picking up his pencil, he sharpened it quickly and began to outline the top of the armor. "Hm?" He blinked…did the card just glow? "I must be seeing things." He told himself. The boy gently rubbed his eyes and glanced out the window. "It was probably the sun or something…" He was proven wrong when the card brightened again, this time to the point that he had to cover his eyes. "What…what's going on?!" There was an explosion of radiance that caused Ryou to fall from his chair, his sketchpad and pencil flying over to the door. 

          When he opened his eyes again, he was met with…his reflection. "Eh?" It took a moment for him to realize that he was staring at metal, a metal leg. Taking a breath, he looked up and saw that a knight stood before him…a headless knight. "Oh my god…" Though it had no head, Ryou knew it was angry. The monster raised its large blade and readied for an attack. He shrunk away. 

          'Move! Move damnit!' His mind told him to run, but his body wouldn't listen, the only part of him that did respond was his mouth. "B-Bakura…" It was barely a whisper, muffled mainly by his fear. "Bakura…" The monster took one step closer, about three feet from the paralyzed boy. His sword was raised, the sunlight reflecting off its glistening surface. Ryou closed his eyes, lowering his head in defeat. "Kura…help me…"

~*~*~*~*~

(1) Overused…but isn't it a cute name?! ^^

SS-I'm afraid that's it…not only a cliff, but also WAY shorter than it should be! *grumbles* But I'm doing my best. *sigh* I shouldn't do more than one story at a time. 

Tym-But one's in YGO and one's in BB.

SS-It's just too much. Well, it wouldn't be if I didn't have school, but…oh don't worry, I'm going to keep this one AND my BB one going. Updates will be slow, but that's the way it'll be for a while. Many sorries! 

I truly appreciate the reviews you all leave me and the patience you have for me…thanks everyone! Your encouragement is what keeps me thinking and writing. 

*Mina-chan AMD: Guess this is your long-awaited wish granted. Again, so many sorries for the delay. The…really big delay ^^;; 

*FireFriendship: Don't worry; everything's fine on my end of the computer, if you exclude school and junk. You and the other super nice reviewers wouldn't have to wait so long if it wasn't for the work. 

*Maedhros: Yeah, I usually find Ryou helping Bakura out so I switched their roles. Hm…the wing span of an angel? I have…absolutely no clue, but I'd guess it differs with each angel. Uh, that's all I can figure. 

*I also like to thank all those anonymous reviews/reviewers. I don't know if they were from one person or a lot of people, but they definitely made me feel better. I'm very grateful. See you later to those who are still following this extremely slow story and bye to those who have already left. 

Tym-Neh…and please review! She should be on her way with the next chapter ultra quickly! Ashes!


	8. Chapter 8

SS – Hello. I hope you didn't come just to read the excuses. I'm here to say that I don't want to leave this undone. No matter how many mistakes there are or how horrid the plot became, it deserves to be finished. Excuses of any kind can be found in my profile.

There's a large italicized section near the bottom, that's a flashback. Also, I haven't been in contact with my beta for a while, so this hasn't been proofed at all. I'll try to reach her for the next one, so please excuse any spelling mistakes loitering around.

DISCLAIMER: I do not take any claim to the anime _Yugioh_; I am merely using the characters to express ideas for no profit.

_Sent to Save Me – "Cliffnotes" version_

_In the sequel to "Angels Watching Over Me," Yugi learns to live his life with his guardian angel, Yami, and his tag-a-long friends Harlon and Kelina. The story focuses on Yugi's friend, Ryou, who is being abused by his alcoholic mother. Bakura, Yami's acquaintance, endeavors to get out of the drudgery of caring after multiple charges by volunteering to help Ryou in an attempt to become his permanent guardian. _

_Bakura makes his first (and largest) mistake by accidentally letting Ryou know that his plan to help him was to kill his mother. So, after much scolding from Yami and observing Ryou's guarded behavior towards him, Bakura changed his plan. Within a week, he promised to cure Ryou's mother and leave, so long as Yami doesn't interfere. As he puts this to action, Ryou reconsiders Bakura's actions and decides that he doesn't want him to go. _

_While this happened, Harlon and Kelina were assigned to intervene in Bakura's mission. Harlon began by bewitching Ryou's Duel Monster deck, causing the top card to activateduring any of three predetermined hourly intervals (monster cards will attack, and the designated effect of whatever magic/trap card will occur). As Bakura left to proceed with the next part of his plan (which included the use of a video camera to prove the mother's abusiveness) Ryou busies himself by drawing monsters from his deck, the top card being the Headless Knight. This is the moment when Harlon's trap activates, and Ryou is face to face with said Duel Monster. _

**Sent to Save Me  
****Chapter 8**

Hard as it was to come face to face with one of his own Duel Monsters, it was happening right now. Only, the Headless Knight had no face. Really, Ryou would have laughed if only his situation didn't look so bleak.

"God…oh God…" he shuffled backwards until his foot connected with the door. Keeping his eyes locked on the menacing suit of armor, his hand fumbled for the knob. And then he remembered that the door opened into his room, so as he pulled, it didn't go anywhere.

"Ba-Bakura…Bakura…"

The monster came to a halt before him with a loud _clank_, and oh-so-slowly raised the heaving metal sword, ready for a swift kill. Ryou could see his reflection mirrored on the shiny surface of the blade. He pulled on the knob again, harder, causing the bottom to run into his feet, effectively knocking him to the ground.

Ryou glanced up at the sword and watched as the knight finally brought it down. He hurriedly brought his arms up to defend himself.

"Bakura!"

"Damn it!"

Phasing through the door, Bakura rammed into the knight and forced it to the ground. The floor shuddered.

Lifting his arms by a fraction, Ryou's shaky eyes landed on his guardian, who was wrestling to get away from the slow, but powerful suit of armor. The smile was on his face before he could stop it.

"Bakura!"

Said angel quickly got up and formed an energy sphere in his hand. "Don't you dare move, Ryou or I'm going to kill you!"

Ryou scooted himself into the corner, aware of the death threat but still sporting his grin.

"And didn't I tell you to put your monster cards on the bottom!" He launched his attack, only to haveit bounce off of the torso of the monster and out the window into…god knows what (something that went _boom_ apparently). "Figures…" Bakura snorted. He prepared another attack, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.However, as soon as it regained it's footing, the monster turned and went for Ryou again. "Hey!"

Ryou's eyes widened considerably. "W-Wait! Wait a minute!" He went for the door as the sword came down where he sat. It was a lot quicker now.

"Do not turn away from me!" Bakura ran for the knight once more, but this time, instead of tackling it (which would surely push it into Ryou), he phased into it. Almost immediately, the creature stopped.

Grasping the doorknob firmly, the boy turned with an alarmed look on his face. "B-Bakura!"

Echoes of cursing and sounds of resistance escaped from the top of the monster. And just as it took another step, blinding streams of light filtered from the knight's joints and holes. There was a bit more rumbling and then the creature exploded in a myriad of light and dust, with only the card left floating to the floor.

Ryou let go of the knob and cautiously walked around the card. Where had Bakura gone? Was he all right? He slowly looked around the room, hoping for some sign of the other boy.

Phasing in behind his charge, Bakura dusted himself off, obviously not very pleased with what he just had to do. "Damn spell,"

Ryou spun around, a mass amount of relief building up behind those chocolate-colored eyes.

"I swear if I ever find out who put that bloody hex on your deck—" he was cut off.

"You're all right!" Ryou caught his guardian, ironically, unaware, and hugged him.

It's not like he was never hugged before, but coming from Ryou, it would be his first genuine one, not to mention the first he ever returned…sort of.Bakura awkwardly patted the boy on the head andgently pushed him away. He didn't mind what Ryou had done; however, it was something he was not used to receiving. He coughed and tried to reassure him.

"O-Of course I'm all right. No monster that weak, or any monster for that matter, could defeat me," he stated a-matter-of-factly. "Besides, in case you've forgotten, I'm dead. It's not like it could have killed me."

Ryou looked down at the floor. "It could have killed me…"

Bakura tried not to hear those words. He turned around and bent down to pick up the card, an object that hepreviously believed was only capable of bringingharm in the form of a papercut.But no,this was asuit of armor that could have easily weighed 200 pounds; if it had decided to simply body slam Ryou the boy would have died from asphyxiation, if not from damage to his vital organs.

"So…thank you,"theyounger boymumbled, his gaze still fixed on the suddenly captivating floorboards.

Sighing, Bakura walked over to the desk and tucked the card away near the bottom of Ryou's deck. "You don't tell your teacher 'thank you' after he finishes a lesson, do you?"

The boy gingerly raised his head, a bemused expression in his eyes.

"I'm your guardian. It's my job and responsibility to protect you," he shrugged and placed the deck in the open drawer. "Besides, it wasn't a big deal."

Ryou shifted his eyes from the blackened spot in the middle of the room to the rather large dent in the corner from the sword and back to Bakura. Furrowing his brows, he released his breath and smiled. "I do thank my teachers," he stated.

Bakura scoffed at him. "No you don't."

"Yes, I do."

The guardian walked over to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the bed. Sitting him down, he began healing the fresh cuts he received in the scuffle. "You're a stubborn little git who just has to get in the last word, aren't you, Ryou?" Anyone, even Yami who was trapped within the puzzle, could have heard the unprecedented genuine humor that laced his words.

His charge certainly did. "Yes, I suppose I am," he replied, a soft smile once again gracing his lips.

**ooo**

"You are such an idiot, Harlon," Kelina scolded the boy beside her. "I just know that Yanazi is going to clip our wings for this."

"Relax. Everything turned out fine, Ryou isn't dead or anything," he countered.

"Hush your tongue! Heaven forbid something like that should happen to such an innocent boy," she picked up her pace, visibly miffed at her companion.

"I was only kidding…" he jogged a bit to keep up with her as they entered the Elysium Circle. "And technically we didn't do anything wrong, so he really can't find fault in us."

Kelina restrained herself from slapping him. "He told us to slow down Bakura's progress, not to put his charge in more danger!"

Harlon shushed her as they approached their final destination. "I **did** slow him down. It's not my problem if it's too challenging a task for Bakura to manage," he brought his finger up to his lips and whispered: "Now no more yelling! We're about to enter the head Elder's quarters."

Although she knew that it was rude to raise her voice within the Elysium Circle, Kelina figured that Harlon simply didn't want her to blame him, _again_. Keeping her anger in check, she too, crossed the threshold and approached Yanazi, the head Elder.

The Elder was standing near the window of the circular room, his hands behind his back. Just as his title suggests, Yanazi was well into his years in both life and time as the leader. He stood a good six inches above them and only four or five of the short hairs on his head still retained an ounce of the rich black color that he was born with.

"Head Elder," the two said in unison as they gave a polite bow.

"…Harlon, Kelina…" he acknowledged them. His voice was deep and worn, just as an old tree's would be if it could talk.

Kelina was the first to speak. "Yanazi, we came per your call to report the status of our assignment."

Harlon rolled his eyes, just a minute ago she was ready to go Amazon on him and now she was worse than a prim schoolgirl. Terribly fascinating what the female race was capable of. He stood up straight alongside her and decided to contribute to the exhilarating conversation, lest he be forgotten. "As you requested, we have casted a continuous spell in order to hinder Bakura's mission. It shall last until he has effectively cured his charge's mother."

Yanazi continued to stare out the window, almost as if they hadn't said anything at all.

Kelina glanced at Harlon, who only shrugged in response. "We realize that it was _foolish_ to cast such a spell without your permission, but so far, Bakura has been able to handle the situation, so we view it as a successful intervention." At the word "foolish" she had nudged Harlon forcefully.

He glared daggers at her. 'She thought it was successful? She certainly **did not** think it was successful a minute ago!' he thought.

"Ah yes, the spell…" Yanazi whispered as if it were a memory reminisced. Both angels turned their attention to the head Elder as he spoke those few words. "That was quite a hex you did, Harlon," he addressed the boy directly, still not looking in their direction.

"Uh…" he turned to Kelina, but she shook her head at him. "T-Thank you, Yanazi."

"It was quite amazing," he added.

Harlon's confidence shot up and he grinned. "Thanks a lot!"

"Yes," Yanazi began to face them. "It was amazingly **stupid**!" he yelled.

"Heh!" Harlon shrank back and Kelina sighed heavily.

Yanazi wasted no time approaching them, although the majority of his anger was directed towards Harlon. "I am extremely disappointed in you, boy! What in the name of all that is good were you thinking?" His tone demanded answers and absolutely no foolishness. There was no way out now.

"I-I…I was just doing as you told requested, sir…"

'Stooping to calling him 'sir' Harlon? Yea…I guess I'd do that, too…' Kelina thought. It was bad enough to be reprimanded by a friend, but by the head Elder? Oh…what a poor soul…

Yanazi continued his rampage. "I was sure that I had made it clear that whenever I assign missions they are to involve no excess violence or trouble than necessary!"

Harlon scrambled to regain some ground in his argument. "I-I know that! That's why I figured that Bakura would realize what was going on and…and you know, solve it," he took a breath. "And, he did actually…"

Kelina couldn't believe how much he was pushing it. "Don't make things worse, you idiot!" she whispered harshly.

Yanazi pulled her into the fray. "And where were you, Kelina, when he performed this spell of his?"

She cursed mentally. "I…I was with Yugi…"

The head Elder rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yugi? I was sure that Yami was more than happy to take care of him. Are you telling me that he was busy with something else?"

'Damn! I can't get Yami involved. If I said the wrong thing, he could be pulled back here!' She corrected her previous statement. "No! I wanted to look after him! After all…you did send Harlon and me to help Yami…"

"True, but then I gave both of you a new assignment. In case you don't understand, that alleviates you from your previous one," Yanazi stared at both of them, clear disappointment in his eyes. "And I put both of you on this because I thought that you'd keep each other in check," Sighing, he headed for his desk. "It appears that I was wrong."

Harlon and Kelina looked at each other and then to Yanazi. Fighting against an Elder was apparently useless.

He paused, collected his thoughts, and then delivered his judgment. "I will reserve your punishment for later," Yanazi rested his elbows on the desk and folded his hands together. "For now, we have to hasten our progress," his gaze demurely shifted to a glowing orb resting in a bowl of water on the windowsill.

Cautiously, Harlon and Kelina did the same. They knew what it was and what it was for, but not in context with what was happening now.

"Continue with your mission; however, if there are any more slip-ups, not only will I find out, I will be sure to clip your wings for it."

The boy's shoulders stiffened considerably. 'He can be so frank with things like that…it's a little disconcerting…' he faulted when Kelina jabbed him in his side again. "What!"

She motioned her head in Yanazi's direction. It appears he was waiting for confirmation.

"Oh! Right!" He made a quick bow and Kelina did the same.

"You're…both dismissed. Please leave now," his voice was tired and a bit lackluster compared to when they had come in. It was expected.

"Yes, sir!" They replied in unison before quickly walking out of the room. The doors closed behind them.

**ooo**

Ryou knew that Bakura was familiar with Egypt, but he didn't know that his guardian knew the language. His father taught him a little; however, Ryou was sure that what Bakura was saying right now wasn't anything along the lines of, "Yes, I would like more water." or "Can you please show me where this tomb is?" From the colorful way that he was gesturing, it was probably a curse.

He suppressed a laugh and continued his chore. All fifty-two of his cards were strewn about on his bed and he was going through the tedious task of not only separating them into monster, magic, and trap, categories, but also into star level and type. Bakura did not want to take any more chances with his deck.

"Are you finished yet?" The older boy asked for the umpteenth time in the past half hour.

Ryou sighed and gave his head a slight shake. "No, not yet," he looked up from the pile of four-star monsters he held in his hand and met Bakura's waiting gaze. "You said that you wanted me to be careful, right? Well, I'm double-checking." In all honesty, Ryou still wanted to draw some of these creatures so he was surreptitiously slipping a few between the magic cards near the top. If Bakura expected him to sit on his bed all day and meditate while he was off doing god knows what, then he could fly back to Egypt and take his curses with him.

"I just want you to finish before it happens again," Bakura said as he continued his pacing, his arms tightly crossed. "From what I gather, it occurs at least twice a day on the hour. It's a spell, and it causes the top card to activate."

Ryou fingered his Reborn the Monster card gingerly and wondered how he knew that. He had only been attacked this once, right? He leaned back and asked him. "Who told you that?"

Bakura tilted his head towards the window. "I have my sources."

The younger boy gave a nod, albeit still curious. He quickly placed another monster underneath his Change of Heart and stacked all of the piles together. "All right, I'm done."

"Good, now lock it away and don't touch it until the week's over." Bakura said without missing a beat. He kept his eyes trained on the scene outside, waiting for his charge to do as he had instructed.

As Ryou walked back to his bed after putting his deck away he stared at his guardian's back. Wasn't he going to do anything?

"I'll continue my plans tomorrow," he said after a minute. "I don't want to leave you alone with that deck just yet."

Ryou never thought that Bakura would be so worried over nothing. "I did put the harmless magic cards on top, you know. If you don't believe me, then you can look yourself."

"It's not that," he replied.

"Then it's…" the boy left his sentence unfinished, hoping that Bakura would complete it.

He never did.

**ooo**

Yugi sighed again and dropped the puzzle next to him. It was no use. After hours of combined efforts, Yami was still trapped within the puzzle. His parents had gotten up a while ago, and even though Yugi was tempted to ask them for their advice, he thought against it. His mother sort of knew Yami, but it was just too complicated. The prospect of asking his grandfather when he returned from his trip was another option; however, just because he knew what Yami really was didn't mean that he would have an answer.

In conclusion, they were in a rut.

Yugi stretched out on his bed and pushed the puzzle around a bit. Harlon and Kelina hadn't been around lately; he was hoping they would know what was going on. He was worried about where they had gone off to, but not as much as he was about Yami.

"Yugi?"

Thankfully they could still communicate through their special mind link. It was comforting to hear his guardian's voice (as long as he didn't start hearing other voices in his head).

"What is it Yami?"

"Have Harlon and Kelina returned yet?"

"No…" he turned over onto his stomach and tugged the puzzle so that it sat between his hands. "I'm kind of worried about them."

"You have no need to be worried, they can take care of themselves." Within the puzzle, in his room, he sat down and leaned against the wall. "They were probably called away on an assignment," he concluded.

"An assignment?" Yugi echoed. "But I thought that their job was to help you."

Yami spared a laugh. "Ever since we left the hospital, I can't say that it's been extremely difficult looking after you, Yugi. Yes, they are here to help me; however, should Yanazi need either one for another mission, he won't think twice to call them away."

The younger of the two absentmindedly played with the puzzle, moving it around and tracing the lines of the pieces. "Yanazi…you said that he's the head Elder, right?"

"Yes, that's right. He's the one who assigned me to you," he said fondly.

Yugi laughed. "Oh yea! You told me that he pushed you right out of heaven!"

Yami winced, his pride taking a hit. "…Oh, I told you that, did I?"

"Yup! That was funny…" he replied, his voice thick with amusement.

"For you maybe…" he mumbled.

Yugi paused then as he traced the symbol on one of the sides of the puzzle. Ryou had given this to him to cheer him up way back when he was still sick in the hospital…where he had met Yami. His fingers found the rope that he tied around it and slowly slid the cord around his neck.

"…We only had each other back then," he whispered.

Yami looked up. Even though he knew he wouldn't see his charge, it felt better when he turned in the general direction of where the sound came from. "Yugi?"

He smiled. "Back when I was in the hospital, and my friends were away, I only had you to keep me company."

Yami nodded. "That's right."

"This is just like that. Harlon and Kelina aren't here, and," Yugi wiped his hand across the front of the puzzle, admiring how it still retained its shine. "And it's just the two of us…talking…"

"It's what we do best, I think," Yami wasn't quite sure where Yugi was taking this conversation, so he listened and tried to catch up.

"I think we'll be ok. I mean, it'd be nice if they came back and all but…if it went back to this, I wouldn't mind," he said.

"And does that include me staying within the puzzle?" His guardian inquired.

Yugi was prepared to say 'no' and was surprised when that's not what came out of his mouth. He closed his eyes and thought about it. Before, when he was sick, he needed Yami to be there, physically, so that he could confirm his existence. Yami was really there for him in a way that his friends and family couldn't be, and that made him so real. It made Yugi feel safe.

Now he was better. His friends were here. His family…he had a whole one again. And he had not one, but three guardians upon his return. That was probably what had made him take Yami for granted (at least slightly). It's no wonder he was so scared when they were initially unaware of how to get him out of the puzzle. The loss of Yami's physical presence had made him think that he wasn't here at all anymore.

"Yugi? Are you all right?"

Yugi glanced down at the puzzle. He may not be sitting next to him, watching over his shoulder, but Yami was still here. It's been weeks since he had been in the hospital and now he knew better. Yami didn't have to be here physically for him to be real. Just talking, hearing his voice (even if it was in his head), that was pretty real to Yugi.

"Yami, we are going to be ok, even if you are stuck in the puzzle."

His guardian smiled. "Is that so?"

"Yea. Well, if you could come out that'd be great, but this…" he fell onto his back, the puzzle an inch or two from his head. "This is good."

Yami laid his head against the wall, closing his eyes. "I think so, too, Yugi."

**ooo**

Ryou finished the last button on his nightshirt as he walked out of the bathroom. It was pretty late, he figured, as he suppressed a yawn and continued down the hallway. His eyes skittered across to the railing, drawing his body over as well. He craned his neck slightly until his mother was in view. She was out cold on the sofa, a dark, unmarked bottle her only company on the table next to her.

He turned away and walked briskly to his room, intent on keeping his promise to Bakura to stay where it was safe. Letting him go through with dinner earlier was already pushing the limit. At first it was assumed that it would only be Ryou and his father at the table, but a little into the meal, his mother came down the stairs (not the least bit woozy either) and joined them.

"_I hope you've set a spot for me," she announced with a smile._

_Both Ryou and his father stared at her at the bottom of the staircase. The boy was shocked. When did she get well enough to manage a sentence without a bottle of alcohol inone hand and painkillers in the other?_

_His father onlywelcomed her with a warm smile. "Oh course we have, dear. I'm glad to see that you've got your appetite back." _

_Alarms went off in Bakura's head. He almost let himself out of the ring until Ryou quickly grabbed it and restrained him. The light 'clink-clink' from the metal caught the woman's attention. That was probably the first time that his mother had noticed the foreign object. She eyed it curiously as she pulled up a chair next to him. After sitting down, she reached out to touch it. Ryou's heart was pounding just as much as Bakura was cursing. _

_"My, Ryou, where did you find such a thing?" she asked, her voice stable and not revealing any bit of intoxication she might have been under._

_"I-In Egypt…during one of father's digs…" he mumbled. _

_She turned the object around and ran her finger through the spikes, causing them to jingle as they lightly connected with each other. Ryou held his breath. _

_"Hm…stunning," she whispered. Then she cupped her son's cheek and smiled before receiving her dinner plate from her husband. _

_Bakura was seething. She had touched not only his ring…but his charge. _

_She had **touched** _Ryou

_The ring physically shook. _

_Ryou hurriedly pressed it against his chest, feigning a laugh when his father asked if anything was wrong. Oh, don't open that can of worms…_

_"It's nothing father, really…" he said. His father nodded and continued the conversation he was having with his mother about if she was really feeling all right or not. _

_A minute or two passed before the ring stopped shaking and he was able to go back to his dinner._

Ryou sighed. He could still feel the warmth from where her hand had held its place on his face. Giving his head a shake, he stopped himself from touching his cheek and continued on his way. The last time his mother had made contact with him…she had slapped him. And he could still feel the sting from that. Those were the scars that wouldn't ever fade…no matter how many times he tried to forget them.

As soon as he crossed the threshold to his room, he practically stumbled onto his bed, face first. This was not a good night.

Bakura noticed his strange behavior and closed the door behind him. Something was definitely wrong, and he was fairly positive that his guardian magic wasn't going to be the solution to it. Unfortunately, he hated the alternative way of going about solving a problem.

"Ryou…"

He was going to have to talk to him about it.

"Ryou, listen…"

The boy summoned a bit of energy to turn his head so that his guardian was partly visible. His white locks were obscuring most of the view. "Bakura?"

"Listen," he faltered, and Bakura did not like it. "Listen, tomorrow I'm going to investigate the deck issue,"

Ryou's eyes barely managed to give the drawer that held his deck a glance. A sigh escaped his lips and he nodded. "All right."

It wasn't where he had wanted to go, but it was something. "I want you to stay in your room, so don't do anything stupid," he said as crossed his arms. He really wasn't good at this. "I'll try to be back soon,"

Ryou lifted his head off of the comforter and he assumed a sloppy sitting position. His curious eyes searched Bakura's face. Was he worried about him…again?

Bakura had felt those eyes on him before. They always found something about himself and it unnerved him. He tried to clarify. "I'll be back soon to intercept the next activation," he turned away. "Magic card or no, we wouldn't want anymore accidents, would we?" His tone was curt and didn't expect an answer.

Ryou let his head drop a bit as he silently complied. He liked his room, but this was getting ridiculous. His hands found the ring and he held it briefly before placing it on his nightstand. What he wouldn't give to be back out on a dig with his father, or just out in general…like when Bakura and he had gone and found the ring together.

All right, "found" wasn't the right word. How about when Bakura practically led him to it and only needed his assistance in the form of his belt and as a sturdy anchor while he went down to retrieve it from the tomb? Yea, that's a bit more accurate.

Ryou was surprised when he heard his own laugh and quickly bit his lip. Bakura stared at him with a "What in the world are you laughing about all of a sudden?" expression. His charge crossed his legs and allowed a nervous chuckle to escape. Well, an explanation would be more effective than simply letting Bakura think that he was crazy.

"I just thought about when we found that ring," he motioned to the golden object. "Good times, huh?"

There was an eerie amount of silence after that. Ryou was sure that the guardian had remembered and had just decided not to respond to such a childish reminisce. It was pretty silly to bring it up.

But then… "Hm, if that's what you want to call a good time…" Bakura muttered.

Ryou straightened up and wondered if this was turning into a conversation or not.

"It was just something that I wanted to get back," he concluded.

"Why?"

"…I had lost it a long time ago," he said, his tone almost emotionless. "And before I could go and find it, I had died."

Ryou closed his eyes. He couldn't imagine how anyone could state something like that so simply, as if it was as important as what day of the week it was. He had died looking for it? For that circle of gold?

'He must have found it in his afterlife…that's probably how he knew exactly where it was when he was leading me through the tomb.' Chocolate eyes slowly revealed themselves and settled on Bakura's back. He wasn't sure if he was going to get an answer for this next question…

"H-How…" he wasn't the most tactful person in the world, so he tried to rephrase it. "How did you…I mean, if you don't mind telling me…how did you--"

"I was murdered."

…

Or as Ryou sworn he could have said with the same amount of concern: "Today's Tuesday."

Bakura was so detached from what he was saying; Ryou was beginning to think that dying had meant nothing more to him than moving onto the next phase of "life." It was unsettling. It _really was_. And he had no idea how to respond to something like that.

Thankfully, Bakura seemed to take a hint as he faced his charge and noted his wide eyes. "Look, it's not as if I appreciated being…that I liked dying," he said, trying to put a bit of feeling back into his formerly dial-tone voice. "I haven't been "alive" for a _really_ long time. In that span, I've been able to get over things. Don't…well, just stop thinking about it, all right?"

There was more hope of getting water from a rock than expecting a quick response and a smile from Ryou. This was a rather large pill to swallow. And presently, Bakura could have used one for the headache that was starting to form in the back of his head. He sat down next to his charge and tried again.

"It wasn't a big deal," he began. "After a year or two I had made my peace with it. It's not like I was a celebrated man back then. I was just a thief,"

Ryou blinked, his expression incredulous. "You robbed people?"

Bakura could hear Yami's snickering already.

"Yes…but…" he sighed. "It's in the past, ok?" His eyes met Ryou's and the boy gave up on it. "What I'm trying to say is, when I ascended, I was able to forget what had happened and leave the past to itself," he rested his elbows on his knees and gave a light shrug. "You should do the same."

They sat there, in that awkward silence for what seemed like hours. Ryou was beginning to wish that he had never said anything. He had just learned a little more than he had really wanted to know about his guardian and now things would never be the same.

Oh, what a night it was.

And before he could stop himself, another question somehow presented itself. "What was it like?"

Bakura shifted his weight a little and rested his chin on his hands. What was there to tell? "Well, the human's perception of clouds, white, and lots of bright lights isn't too far off. Just put all of that into a long hallway with a handful of people going about their own business with a big door at one end and a railing or entrance at the other, and you've got yourself heaven on a postcard."

Ryou brought his hands together in his lap and tried to picture it. He had no right to say anything (since he never saw it), but that didn't sound like heaven to him. Somehow, he had envisioned a larger space with harps and angels. What Bakura had told him sounded more like a school hallway that led to the principal's office.

"You don't like it, do you?"

The boy was taken aback hearing that from his guardian. He was never one to ask for someone else's opinion of what he had said.

"Yami doesn't either," he leaned back, taking the pressure off of his arms. "That's why he believes that there's more than one heaven, or that we're in one part, and can't get to the other," he straightened up and deepened his voice.

"Heaven is what we expect and embodies what we want. It's no more real than our dreams and just as satisfying."

Bakura laughed off the impersonation and shrugged. "That's what Yami says…or something like that. I can't tell you how many ideas he has about heaven," he glanced at Ryou. "However, I can tell you that I've had the misfortune of hearing every single one of them."

"Did Yami get there before you?" The boy asked.

"A week or two before…and I was already acquainted with him. There was nothing better to do than listen to him preach," he concluded, appearing neither contented nor irritated.

Ryou began to hope. "Does that mean that you'll be upset when you return?" His guardian stared at him. "You know, when you're done here…you'll just return won't you? But if you dislike it up there, won't you be upset?"

Bakura raised his brows a bit. "Oh, I won't be up there for long," his head fell back a little. "As horrible as I am with this, Yanazi will probably send me out to look after some other poor soul."

Hope danced out the window.

Ryou leaned in. "Y-You'll get a new charge?"

Bakura faced him. "Probably, why?"

"W-Well…" he quickly shied away, suddenly preferring to look at the door than the other boy. "You don't seem to like being a guardian; you shouldn't have to take up a new charge," he mumbled.

"As if it was up to me," he scoffed. "It's my job now. It would appear that fate didn't have enough fun with me in my previous life, so it's milking my second one for all it's worth."

Ryou nodded. "I suppose…" he didn't feel like keeping up this conversation anymore. It certainly wasn't making him feel any better. It simply confirmed that this was the worst night of his life. He forced a yawn and rubbed his eye with the back of his hand. "I-I'm kind of tired, Bakura," he muttered, uncrossing his legs and moving to get under the covers. "I think I'll go to sleep early, today."

The other got up and stretched a bit. "Fine, it has been somewhat of a taxing day," he replied.

"…" The covers hid most of his face from view, especially after he turned to face the wall. Honestly, he was a little exhausted. "Good night."

Bakura walked over to the door and turned off the lights. The shades on the window were parted slightly, allowing a sliver of night light to stream in. It was pretty late. He was ready to return to the ring and map out tomorrow's plan, until a briefglow caught his eye; aglow that was seeping through the space above the desk drawer. Making his way over, he tugged on the drawer so that it barely opened. He didn't want to disturb Ryou.

It was happening again - the activation of another card. 'Let's see which one he put on top,' Once the light died down, Bakura saw that Change of Heart was the first card face up on the deck. He grinned. 'So he did know what he was doing,' Confident that the card was harmless, the guardian closed the drawer and phased into the ring.

Ryou buried his head deeper into his pillow and turned over. His sleep was already restless. What a way to end possibly the most difficult night of his life thus far.

**ooo**

1. I'm taking creative license with Bakura's death and the conceptions of heaven. That's simply how I want to incorporate them in the story.

SS – Questions and comments are welcome, although some of the answers maybe found in my profile. Thank you for reading.


End file.
